Posts Tagged 'Norsteel'

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Understanding the LEED Rating Systems

Published January 9, 2012 going green Leave a Comment
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Logo. Canada Green Building Council.

If you’re planning to have your building LEED-certified, you first have to know in which specific LEED category your building falls under. Each category has specific prerequisites and a requisite number of points required in order to qualify.

  1. New Construction and Major Renovations (NC+MR) applies to major renovation projects and new buildings—particularly to institutional buildings and high-rise residential buildings, whether private or public.
  2. Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EB: O&M) refers to the certification of ongoing operations of existing commercial and institutional buildings. This covers offices, retail and service establishments, institutional buildings, hotels and 4-storey residential buildings.
  3. Commercial Interiors (CI) refers to tenant spaces in office, retail and institutional buildings for owners or lesser.
  4. Core and Shell Development (CS) is for developers who control the shell base building and entire core, but has no control over the design and construction of the tenant fit-out.
  5. Schools, New Construction and Major Renovations (SCH) refer to the certification of new school buildings and renovations of existing ones.
  6. Retail, New Construction and Commercial Interiors (Retail NC & Retail CI) is for all retail buildings and for tenant spaces in retail buildings.
  7. Healthcare (HC) is for inpatient and outpatient care facilities and licensed long term care facilities. This also applies for medical offices, medical education and research centers, and assisted living facilities. If the renovation is not significant, then they can fall under the LEED EB: O&M category.
  8. Homes, obviously, refers to the mainstream homebuilding industry. Homeowners can refer to a LEED for Homes specialist who can help in designing a home that’s in tune with the LEED rating system.
  9. Neighborhood Development (ND), unlike the 8 categories, refers to entire neighborhoods and groups of buildings. Single-use neighborhoods can apply for a certification.

Norsteel can offer several Energy Star® certified products, and help you obtain sustainable design and LEED certification in some of the aforementioned categories.

Residential Buildings and Apartments are Going Greeen Too

Published January 6, 2012 Norsteel Buildings News Leave a Comment
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Flat Back Rain Barrel. Image Source: Shopping.com

The trend of greening one’s space doesn’t only happen within commercial and industrial buildings, but within residential buildings and apartments as well. In fact, a lot of neighborhoods are starting to invest in other methods of going green, in composting food waste—a trend that used to be foreign and strange for most families a couple of years ago.

For example, in Minneapolis, several neighborhoods now have a chutes in their buildings designed for organic food that will be composted. This is only one of the several green features to be found in residential apartments across the US.

Another example is a roofing system that can deflect the heat of the summer.  Tanks are added to collect rainwater, so that the money paid by residents for storm water management is significantly reduced while water capacity stays the same.

The HVAC and plumbing system is an important aspect of green residential buildings as well. A lot of residential buildings have increased energy efficiency, improved insulation for doors and windows, and appliances that have a high Energy Star rating. Bike racks are commonly installed as more people are learning to use other forms of transport rather than the private automobile.

Granted that there are certain costs for going green such as operational and maintenance expenditures, but the benefits far outweigh them.  In fact, building developers are willing to develop and pay for these expenses upfront as the market is starting to demand environmentally sound and sustainable practices.

The response of residents has thus far been overwhelming. In fact, a lot of people looking for apartments particularly look for green residential buildings. With the chance of reducing electricity and utility costs by as much as 75%, there’s indeed every reason to look for a green residential building!

While LEED certification is the pinnacle of green building, even smaller efforts to cut costs and save the environment can help. The benefits will far outweigh the costs for residential green buildings.

A representative at Norsteel will be happy to offer their assistance on finding an inexpensive, sturdy and sustainable steel building to meet your requirements.

LEED Milestone!

Published December 31, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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The US Green Building Council just reported that the total LEED-certified square footage for existing buildings in the US has officially exceeded the square footage for new construction. This is a milestone for LEED.

The total size of existing commercial buildings in the US has reached 60 billion square feet. In the past, most of these had consumed enormous amounts of energy and water. USGBC, however, has made it a point to curb the exorbitant consumption of existing commercial buildings.

USGBC with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating and assessment system, has launched the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance. Otherwise known as LEED-EBOM, the program was only launched in 2008. Yet, the response of existing commercial building owners and managers has been overwhelming.

In three years, the certifications under LEED-EBOM have caught up with certifications for newly constructed commercial buildings. This month, the total square footage under LEED-EBOM has finally exceeded that under LEED-NC, or certifications under new construction. The difference is around 15 million square feet, as 640 million square feet of certified existing commercial buildings exist, while new construction amounts to 625 million feet.

Around 1.675 billion square feet of all buildings are already LEED-certified. In early 2010, LEED certified buildings have passed the 1 billion mark—and in a little less than a year, the size has almost doubled. By 2012, around 2 billion square feet of buildings is estimated to be LEED-certified. Such is the influential growth of LEED-certified buildings.

A few existing commercial buildings that have been LEED-certified by retrofitting are the Empire State building, the Taipei 101, and the Transamerica Pyramid. Among these three, the Transamerica Pyramid has reached the highest level of LEED-certification with a Platinum status.

What this means is that newly constructed buildings should catch up with existing buildings in terms of LEED certification. For high-grade quality green buildings, Norsteel is the obvious choice.

Green Hotels

Published December 22, 2011 going green 2 Comments
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Green living. Image Source: Plus Point Magazine.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has released information on how hotel businesses can manage to stay afloat by operating on green buildingsin order to cut costs and market themselves in an eco-friendly way. By facilitating green hotels, this means:

  1. Sustainability of the site. The site on which the building will be built must be sustainable in the first place. This involves open or reflective grid paving, access to convenient public transportation, bicycle storage, and the use of green space.
  2. Water efficiency and conservation. As much as 20% of water can be saved by using waterless urinals, efficient landscaping, and excellently made plumbing fixtures.
  3. Atmosphere and Energy. Using photovoltaic roof panels, geothermal systems, Energy Star appliances, rooftop solar water hearing system, and heat pumps are a few ways to facilitate a positive energy flow throughout the building.
  4. Excellent lighting and indoor quality. This takes into account the coating, painting, and lighting of the hotel. All these will make the hotel breathable for both the hotel staff and your guests.
  5. Use of environmentally safe materials. Using recyclable and reused materials, as well as locally produced raw materials, will ensure a high credit rating.
  6. Innovation in the hotel business. By being a model to the industry, a hotel can get extra points. This calls for a utilization of the hotel’s creative juices. A few examples include educating the hotel staff and encouraging guests to conserve energy, among others.

The roadmap to green buildings for hotels is rather straightforward, but in no way an easy one. The hard work, however, will pay off, once a LEED certification is awarded by the USGBC. In order to do this, two central aspects of a hotel business are evaluated: the building process and the day-to-day operations.

For LEED certification, there are four levels: certified, silver, gold, platinum. In order to be certified, a hotel must be able to have around 40 over 100 points. There are six credit categories to get a LEED certification.

Why Green Buildings Spell Success for Companies

Published December 16, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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Green building. Image Source: Green Step.

Commercial building tenants are on the lookout for green buildings and it’s not difficult to understand why. With the growing research on green buildings, more companies are starting to get convinced that the benefits of staying in a green building far outweigh the costs.

Green buildings are the best workplaces

A huge portion of a person’s life is spent in the office. With that, the need for a conductive workplace that offers optimum productivity is clear. Research shows that green buildings offer high productivity gains for employee. Employees who work in green buildings have higher job satisfaction, motivation, and productivity. Naturally, all these translate to a more positive work environment and higher returns for the company.

This only means that a company who stays in a green building gets to retain its most valuable employees. It also means that it gets to attract other employees to join the company.

Corporate social responsibility is promoted

Brand image and reputation are two things that a company can’t easily create. In this aspect, staying in a green building can definitely help. Choosing a green building means that a company is responsible enough to recognize the importance of contributing to the environment. With that comes the positive influence on one’s brand image and reputation.

Sustainability is usually at the core of most company’s vision-mission and goals. However, very few of these companies follow through and use green space as their workplace. Companies that do have reaped benefits and showed significant reductions in terms of their financial expenses. A commitment to having a workplace in a green building will ultimately allow companies to maximize their savings, which can be used to fulfill the other goals and missions of the company.

Norsteel recognizes these benefits, and fully supports companies that establish their workplace in green buildings. With steel prefab buildings, establishing a green office space can be done in a jiffy.

New Handbook Provides Standards on Continuous Green Building Improvements

Published November 28, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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Green Buildings. Image Source: BPN.

While compliance with green building standards is essential in green construction, continuous improvement and maintenance are just as important. Most building owners and construction firms often forget that green buildings have to be continuously improved in order to truly help the environment and reduce energy costs.

To make sure that you get the most out of your green building by reducing electricity and water costs, while also keeping your carbon emissions at a bare minimum, The Building Performance Tracking Handbook might be what you need. Developed by the California Commissioning Collaborative and funded by the Energy Commission, the handbook provides standards of assessment for building improvement.

The handbook provides a standard operating procedure that allows building owners and managers to understand how the building is performing, which parts use the most energy, and how green building expectations are met. By educating building managers about this information, they can identify problems and find solutions. This framework of fine tuning and benchmarking the energy performance of the building from time to time is becoming a popular practice in New York and San Francisco.

Also in the handbook are the basics of green construction. For those who are already on the more advanced levels, there are supplementary resources, which provide a deeper understanding of green buildings. There are also case studies from which building operators can learn a lesson or two on green construction. Commercial buildings can also find out the several benefits that they will gain from green construction, such as reduced energy costs, a higher market value, and higher occupancy rates.

We at Norsteelbelieve that building performance needs to be tracked from time to time. While we lay the groundwork for green steel building construction that complies with the most rigorous standards of green construction, maintenance and continuous improvements continue to play a large part in the development of our products.

Survey Shows That Green Buildings are Great for School Infrastructure

Published October 20, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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A conceptual drawing of a future green school. Image Source: Green market.

A recent independent nationwide survey reports that 75% of Americans are willing to support the drive for green and eco-friendly construction. The survey shows that Americans support federal funding for school building improvements that will lower carbon emissions, comply with LEED certification requirements, and ultimately help save on taxes.

The survey  shows an alarming statistic: 1/3 of schools in the US are in “poor condition”, while only 6% can be deemed to be in great shape.

The study also shows that Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the need to overhaul the school infrastructure systems so that learning environments can become efficient, healthy, and conducive for learning. Most Americans no longer believe in just updating school infrastructure; they’d go as far as insist that school buildings must comply with current standards of energy efficiency.

This is certainly needs more advocacy in order to advance building process. One green school alone can reduce the country’s carbon emissions by as much 585,000 pounds annually. Aside from helping the environment, green schools are also shown to have a positive impact on students. Seventy percent of school administrators report that green schools reduce absenteeism and even improved the performance of students. Also, with less money spent on heating and cooling costs, schools can redirect their funds for teachers’ salary and other school resources. Without a doubt, investing in green schools is not a waste of time.

The government, unfortunately, thinks otherwise. In 2008, the US government chose to postpone an $254 billion-project to maintain and update school buildings. This is certainly an unacceptable move, after the US Government Accountability Office has reported that around 25,000 schools in the US are in need of replacement and repairs.

The survey was undertaken by the US Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools and United Technologies Corp.

We’ve always talked about the importance of green construction and the integral role of steel buildings.  This survey just goes to show that green construction can extend not just to office and commercial spaces but also to schools. And the result? Students that are more willing to learn, drastically reduced costs, and reduced carbon emissions. That’s a trade-off Norsteel is certainly willing to take.

Strong Demand for Prefabricated Building Systems Until 2015

Published October 12, 2011 Pre-Fabricated Building News Leave a Comment
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Pre-fabricated steel building. Image: Norsteel.

According to a recent study by Freedonia Market Research Group, there will be an overwhelming demand for pre-fabricated steel buildings in the next four years.

In fact, the demand for nonresidential prefabricated buildings is set to increase by 7% every year until 2015, bringing to total growth to around $16 billion. While the demand for such buildings was relatively low in 2010, the recovery in the next four years will focus on the need for more prefabricated office and commercial buildings.

There are several kinds of prefabricated building systems: modular, metal, precast concrete, autoclaved aerated concrete, and fabric. Of all these kinds, metal buildings will still take the larger portion of the prefabricated building systems market, taking up about 45% of the total market share. This particular market will also experience an increase of around 6% annually. Meanwhile, other prefabricated building systems will increase by around 8% annually for the next four years.

While metal building systems will remain most in demand for commercial and office buildings, growth in other kinds of prefabricated buildings is also expected. With modular classrooms growing more popular, modular buildings will certainly be more popular. Precast concrete buildings will also experience a rise in sales, with the improvement of design and sound attenuation qualities.

In terms of nonresidential applications, prefabricated metal building structures will be most common in industrial, commercial, and office markets. In fact, the market for prefabricated metal buildings is set to grow by doubt digits annually until 2015, thanks to the improvement in designs and increased demand for them. Naturally, Norsteel will stay at the forefront of such improvements.

With the increased demand for nonresidential construction activity, economic growth, and population growth, the South and West North American will will experience the strongest regional market gains.

LEED 2012: New Changes to the Rating System

Published September 5, 2011 going green Leave a Comment
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BC Cancer Research Centre, a LEED Gold Certified Building. Image Credit: IBI Group, Peter Wilmse & Ivo Talker; Henriquez Partners.

LEED ratings have done great things for environmental awareness. The exclusive, environmentally-conscious building design protocols have helped raise public consciousness about eco-friendly design, efficiency and have inspired beautiful, eco-friendly design projects. That is not to say the system is without its critics. Some industry insiders have complained that LEED points are easy to rack up and difficult to quantify in some convoluted building processes. Another issue is the fact that in many cases, LEED certification is a result of a one-time assessment of a building’s design and construction, with little to no follow-up in the future.

An article recently published on the Fast Company website reports that the LEED system is about to undergo a bit of a transition. Going forward, LEED certification will now reflect how buildings are actually saving energy and water, and they ways they can improve.

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization that administers LEED certifications, states that it wants its volunteer members to think of green buildings and LEED certification as assets rather than as items on a list. The revised system, coined LEED 2012, will debut in November, 2011, and will explore the new technologies and energy-efficient building practices that improve a structure’s overall efficiency.

Scot Horst, USGBC’s Senior VP for LEED tells Fast Company that the new system should be considered a “Zagat rating” for buildings.

Using LEED 2012, business owners can track the environmental performance of LEED-certified buildings with new apps from LEED Online. “Faster, cheaper, more automatic” is the new slogan for this new system.

Steel and LEED Buildings

Steel is an environmentally-friendly building material that is often used in LEED-certified buildings. Because it is highly recyclable and helps facilitate energy efficiency, steel makes an easy choice for environmentally-conscious builders. A large percentage of LEED buildings are comprised primarily of steel. Click here to learn more about steel’s environmentally-friendly properties.

Building a Customized Steel Warehouse

Published August 25, 2011 Norsteel Buildings News Leave a Comment
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Nowadays, building a steel warehouse building is easier than ever.  Warehouse design software, planning protocols and the availability of steel makes it a quick, efficient and cost-effective building material.

Here at Norsteel, we’re well-versed in the steel industry and have extensive experience working with steel warehouse buildings.  Visit the Norsteel website to learn more about how we can help with your large-scale steel projects.

Before you begin the process of commissioning a steel warehouse, there are a few things that need to be taken into account, such as regulations and building codes, budget, projected timeline and any specs that might be important to the builder (such as the number of employees the warehouse will house, the amount of equipment and product that will be inside at any given time, the desired dimensions, etc.).  It is on the onus of the customer to provide a potential builder/contractor with as much information as available when commissioning a steel warehouse building.  This can save time, money and effort for all involved in the project.

Once a steel warehouse building has begun, you will need to consider how the warehouse is to be heated and cooled, among other things.  Another step in the post-construction process is the formal creation of specs and blueprints, both of which will need to be commissioned and drawn up by a professional.

Steel is a highly customizable building material, and all parts will be created to specs at a factory and then shipped in for onsite assembly.  This is a quick and efficient way to construct a building and, provided there are no unforeseen circumstances, the project should be complete in a timely manner.

A finished building requires insulation, paint, doors, windows, and exterior finishes before it can house people, machinery and/or product.  Once complete, a building must be inspected and cleared by an inspector before it is able to open for business.

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