Trial By Fire

As LEED Goes Mainstream, Subs Learning More about Sustainability

By Debra Wood

Building green begins with a sustainable design and clear specifications, but it also requires everyone on the project working together to secure all of the points needed to obtain LEED certification. Some contractors have stepped up to ensure their subcontractors comply with the requirements.

“The whole level of understanding in the industry is being raised,” says David Horowitz, senior vice president of Tishman Construction Corp. of New York. “[Subcontractors] are starting to get the hang of it. But there has been a tremendous learning curve by the entire construction community in understanding what’s required and how to comply with not just the requirements, but also the spirit of it.”

Skanska USA Civil Northeast selected Dome-Tech of New York to install the solar array atop the Corona Maintenance Shop & Car Washer Facility in large part due to the subcontractor's experience with LEED and sustainable building practices. (Photo courtesy of Skanska.)

Tishman is building One Bryant Park in Manhattan for the Durst Organization of New York and Bank of America of Charlotte, N.C., a $1 billion, 2.1 million-sq-ft, 52-story skyscraper aiming for LEED-platinum certification. The company started early to identify potential problems in manufacturing or fieldwork and deal with them immediately.

“As we bid and buy, we make sure the contractors understand what is involved in meeting the LEED requirement,” Horowitz says.

Bovis Lend Lease of New York also starts early. It conducted general meetings about LEED requirements and the concepts with its regular subcontractors before starting its 2005, $73 million, 24-story LEED-gold Tribeca Green residential project in Battery Park City for Related of New York. Bovis currently is working on the 20-story, mixed-use Lucida, for Extell Development Co. of New York.

advertisement

The company also educates on a project-by-project basis, which James Stawniczy, senior sustainability manager for Bovis, says is the most effective method. Bovis provides a written scope of work, with the LEED requirements highlighted.

“In subsequent meetings, when going through the scope and making sure everyone understands, you reinforce the message of what is required on the subcontractor’s behalf to come on board,” Stawniczy says. “There is quite a bit of hand holding that does happen on the project level.”

Stawniczy says some firms have really caught on, especially its waste removal company and concrete supplier. Bovis is building the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center (WTC), which seeks LEED-gold certification.

Tom Gallin, a principal at John Gallin & Son, a interior build out firm in New York, says it all starts with the design team clearly specifying materials and then including that in the bid documents.

“The quicker you bring everyone on board, the smoother the project should run,” Gallin says.

Gallin & Son is working on the interior of the $5.4 million, 4,000-sq-fr Mercy Corps’ Action Center to End World Hunger in Lower Manhattan, which is seeking LEED-platinum status. ESI Design of New York designed the center, and Plaza Construction of New York serves as general contractor.

Michael Viggiano, vice president of operations for Skanska USA Civil Northeast of Whitestone, N.Y., says his company had to walk subcontractors working on the 131,000-sq-ft Corona Maintenance Shop & Car Washer Facility for New York City Transit Authority, through the LEED process. Skanska also decided to manage a lot of the documentation and recycling of debris for the subs. That project achieved LEED certification. It collects rainwater to clean the cars and generates power through solar and fuel cell systems.

Ensuring compliance requires active participation, Horowitz says. Like safety, it cannot be left to chance. Tishman set up project standards, a specific contract that outlines what each subcontractor must do to meet their goals.

Skanska also outlines in its contracts with subcontractors all of the LEED requirements they must meet. Viggiano says sometimes all it takes is following up to make sure they are complying with those specifications.

A competitive edge

Expertise in LEED can help a subcontractor secure a job, such as Skanska selecting Dome-Tech of New York to install the solar panels on the Corona job.

“They got the job based on their experience with LEED,” Viggiano says.

Likewise, Gallin says he found it comforting dealing with subcontractors who already knew LEED requirements.

Bovis finds subcontractors familiar with LEED bid more accurately.

Brendan Manning, education director of Associated General Contractors of America New York State Chapter in Albany, adds subcontractors who haven’t dealt with LEED requirements may bid higher on a LEED project, not knowing what to expect.

LEED knowledge could create opportunities for subcontractors who take the time to learn. Although his firm has not been hired for a LEED project, Ben Liang, project manager for Strocchia Iron Works of Brooklyn, N.Y., took a LEED class last year and passed the certification exam. He says sees LEED becoming more popular and wanted to learn more about it.

“If subcontractors are going to go after a LEED-credited project, they need to have the know-how before,” says architect Frank G. Relf, of Huntington Station, N.Y. “It is not something you learn to do on the fly. It is too much of a commitment.”

Relf agrees that knowing the regulations can give contractors an edge over their competitors when going after a LEED project. He is currently designing a command center and district offices for the Dix Hills (N.Y.) Fire District and a self-storage center in Port Chester, N.Y, both of which will seek LEED certification.

Michael English, senior partner with Horizon Engineering Associates of New York, says that as the larger general contracting and construction management firms have embraced sustainable projects and educated their subs, compliance with LEED requirements “is not an issue.”

Horizon is working on the Riverhouse at Battery Park City and the WTC memorial, both in Lower Manhattan, and an arena in Brooklyn being developed by Forest City Ratner Co. of Brooklyn.

From material acquisition through installation

Education requires informing subcontractors about the specified materials, where to purchase items, such as plywood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and the importance to sticking with buying from a supplier close to the project.

“Everybody needs to document, that in fact, what has been done and will be done is in compliance with all of the LEED criteria,” Horowitz says. “There’s an evolution of understanding of how that documentation needs to be prepared, submitted and reviewed.”

Liang says steel contractors bidding on LEED jobs must meet certain percentages of recycled materials and must work with the general contractor to coordinate deliveries. He adds that a LEED project may require multiple shipments to ensure the steel doesn’t take up too much space close to the building.

Construction practices also may change. Different materials, such as adhesives or coatings with low-volatile organic compounds, require trade workers to change some of their methods, Gallin says. Also, he adds, finish sequencing may change. For instance, installation of carpeting or ceilings cannot occur before painting.

“They need to change and listen to how these things have to be installed,” Manning adds. “It’s a learning curve.”

Stawniczy says that LEED sequencing is similar to Bovis’s quality control process.

“It’s good operations, and LEED just builds on that,” says Stawniczy, adding that the city Buildings Department is working to put LEED concepts into the building codes.

Crews cannot drag ductwork across the floor. It must be placed on a dolly, with the seals placed at the factory kept intact, Horowitz says. Sheetrock must stay blocked up, not stored flat on the floor, so that air can flow around it. And it does not soak up moisture from the floor to prevent mold or mildew formation.

“That stuff is good practice anyway,” Horowitz says. “It has now become codified in means and methods statements.”

Equipment filters must be changed out, and plates of glass must stay open in the curtain wall so there is cross ventilation during construction.

“A lot of the stuff they do is standard course of business anyway to a certain extent,” English says. “And if they don’t, they really should be doing it.”