Septic Tank and Storm Drains

The storm drains and septic tanks are going in today and it's a bittersweet event, not simply because of what will eventually fill these tanks. The local government is not really up to speed on a what a green building entails and thus enforced building requirements that in reality are completely unnecessary for a green building. For example, this property will save 100,000 gallons of water per year once it is in operation but according to county requirements, an office space uses a certain amount of water and an apartment uses a certain amount of water and that is what you have to plan and provide for.

So for these storm drains, we are forced to install over two dozen of these massive concrete rings in order to capture the apparent deluge of water that we regularly receive out here. The problem is that that as a green building project, we have achieved a ground surface that is 100% permeable. The parking area is crushed pea stone and the rest of the property is native grasses. So all stormwater will naturally percolate into the soil and will never even reach these catch basins. 80% of them may never see a drop of water, EVER. The carbon emissions released by manufacturing, transporting, and installing these, not to mention the cost is frustrating to us since it goes against the green principles of this project and is only this way because local government has not caught up with the green building trend.

Steel Goes Up on Building C

Building C is now taking shape as the steel goes up. We just confirmed today that all of the steel we are using is formed using the electric arc furnace process and as such contains 95% post consumer recycled content, a major contributor to MR 4.1-4.2 Recycled Content .

Beautfiul Steel

We are finally building upwards with the installation of steel on building B. Next week all the steel should be up and we will really be moving towards our goal of being completed in October. The steel comes from a town in Connecticut that is within 500 miles of the project making it a regional material according to LEED-NC MR5: Regional Material.

We Build Good Foundations

We passed our foundation inspection yesterday.

Waterproofing

The black stuff around the foundation of building B is a spray on waterproofing. According to LEED NC EQ 4.1 Low-Emitting Materials: Adhesives & Sealants a sealant of this type can have a maximum VOC content of 420 g/L. The product we are using has a VOC content of 73 g/L. It's called Watchdog and is manufactured by Tremco.

Setting Forms on Building C

Pouring Concrete

Setting Forms