Setting a new standard Published Feb. 27, 2013 By Senior Airman Joseph E. Bridge 911th Airlift Wing PUblic Affairs PITTSBURGH IAP ARS -- Building 226, the newest of lodging facilities at the 911th Airlift Wing, has recently been awarded a gold certification under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by the U.S. Green Building Council. The facility was designed from the beginning to receive a LEED certification, and was spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, which designed the building. Building 226 is one of only a handful of LEED certified buildings in the Air Force Reserve Command. "To have a structure of this quality built on this base is a tremendous asset, said commander of the 911th Airlift Wing," Col. Craig C. Peters. "Not only is it going to allow Airmen to stay in base facilities, it is also setting a trend that shows the Air Force is looking toward the future in both a cost savings aspect in regards to usage of resources, and also environmental sustainability. Evidenced by being awarded the LEED Gold certification." Construction of the facility was overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, after the bid for the job went to SOTA Construction Services. The building was constructed at a cost of $8 million and took 18 months to complete. This was the first Military Construction project at the 911th Airlift Wing in 20 years. SOTA takes pride on what they call "total quality construction services",which consist of client satisfaction, personal attention, open communication, continuous process improvement, and central to the construction of building 226, a dedication to sustainability and value engineering. Building 226 has 50 guest rooms available among three stories, which consist of three handicap accessible rooms, and three suites that have multiple rooms and ample space. The new facility also meets all force protection requirements. Certification Rating System There are 100 possible base points that are grouped across five major categories: Sustainable sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, plus an additional six points for Innovation in Design, and an additional four points for regional priority. Buildings under construction can qualify for four different levels of certification: Certified, 40-49 points; Silver, 50-59 points; Gold, 60-79 points; and Platinum, 80 points and above. Some prerequisites for the LEED program are compliance with all environmental laws and regulations, occupancy scenarios, building permanence and pre-rating completion, site boundaries and area-to-site ratios, and obligatory five-year sharing of whole building energy and water use data from the start of occupancy (for new construction) or date of certification (for existing buildings). The areas of construction that netted the most points toward certification were: construction waste management, recycled content, regional materials, certified wood, and low emitting materials. Another major point gainer and part of planning for the certification system was a "Building Flush Out", which requires that the building ductwork be flushed out of vapors being emitted by the building materials, which required 45 calendar days to complete. "The flushing out of the air ducts really has a tremendous impact on the air quality of the facility," said John Arin, Chief/Engineering Flight. "Getting rid of toxins that are released from building materials keeps the health of both the staff and guests at a premium." Elements of Construction Some of the green features that went into the design were super-efficient, acoustically enhanced insulating glass window units; eco-disc elevator; high efficiency four pipe HVAC system; and an energy efficient lighting package that monitors the usage of electricity of the building. Low-flow water heads were installed in all of the rooms along with high efficiency toilets to help conserve on water usage within the building. "The typical construction materials that contributed to the certification was a brick veneer on insulated concrete, forming a thermal envelope," said Robert G. Clifford a general engineer at the 911th Airlift Wing. "When the concrete was poured, it was incased within Styrofoam to form the thermal envelope, which helps keep heating and cooling costs down with the development of this type of insulation." Construction of the building incorporated recycled materials, which consisted of between 10 and 20 percent of the total project. "We maximized every opportunity we could in the construction of this building to use recycled materials, and obtain the highest rating possible while staying within budget," said Clifford. "This building really was done the correct way."