LEXINGTON, KY - The first time Ann McBrayer heard the term "LEED," she was listening to a presentation about the CentrePointe project proposed for downtown Lexington. Developers said they planned for it to be Lexington's first LEED-certified skyscraper, to be constructed using a strict regimen of environmentally friendly building practices. For McBrayer, president of beverage distributor Kentucky Eagle, whose company was planning for its own new building, a "green" construction project seemed like "a cool thing to do."
The resulting 190,000-square-foot warehouse and offices, built by Lexington-based Gray Construction, may also be the first LEED-certified beer distributorship in the nation - or possibly even the first for any U.S. beverage distributorship.
"Over the last seven or eight years we've had a substantial uptick in customer requests (for LEED certification)," said Phil Seale, vice president, manufacturing market, for Gray. "About 40 or 50 percent of our projects are meeting some level of LEED certification."
The Kentucky Eagle project is described by Seale as a beverage distribution facility with 22,000 square feet of executive office space, offering room for sales staff and administrative functions. It includes a hospitality room for large conferences with Anheuser Busch and its sales staff, and space for vendor training. It also features a large drive through area, with space for service bays and 80 trucks.
"They have a controlled environment warehouse where they keep the beer at a certain temperature and keep the humidity at a certain level to keep the packaging intact," said Seale. "They have a large keg business based upon big events like Keeneland. It must be kept below 40 degrees."
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a designation earned for buildings through a points system and four levels of certification: certified, silver, gold or platinum. Seale said every building has an energy consumption rate and to meet the criteria, LEED-certified buildings must show a reduced rate of consumption that meets a specified percentage. The Kentucky Eagle building "includes lighting which is on a sensor system. The office lights turn off when you leave the room," said Seale. "They only light a certain portion of the storage areas. All fixtures are low energy consumption florescent fixtures."
There are also standards for water usage. The sprinkler system utilizes rainwater kept in a retention pond so that no city water is needed to sprinkle the landscaping. In addition, they have low flow plumbing fixtures.
"All of this reduces water consumption by about 42 percent," Seale estimated.
Seale said recycling is also part of the LEED mix. Builders must demonstrate a certain content of material, like steel, that comes from recycled product. At the Kentucky Eagle work site, even construction debris was recycled, at rates as high as 83 percent.
"We had to pour concrete casting beds. When we were done with them, normally we just wasted them in a landfill. But in this case, we took them, crushed them and used it for stone base - the same with the wood and metal products," Seale said.
McBrayer added her own interesting personal touches in the new building. Her offices and other areas of the building have flooring from re-milled wood that was in an old tobacco barn on the construction site. In addition, Gray used countertops from recycled material - appropriately, beer cans.
McBrayer is thrilled with what Gray achieved. The company has been in its new building for about six months.
"This new building is so much more energy efficient," McBrayer remarked. "It is 38,000 square feet larger than our last building, but my monthly utility bills have been running about $2,000 less, or sometimes only $1,000 more."
It should be noted that the cost of building a LEED-certified building can be higher initially, but huge savings can be recouped later.
"What we're showing customers is that higher capital costs are overwhelmed by lower operating costs. It takes more administrative effort, but the capital cost isn't huge and it is outweighed by the savings. The difference in Kentucky Eagle's old and new buildings is about a 30 percent reduction in utility bills, and the new place is about 25 percent larger," said Seale.
Kentucky Eagle estimates it spent about $50,000 more than usual on its new building. Sometimes, however, energy-efficient solutions can cost no more than building as usual, according to Jill Wilson, vice president for communications and marketing for Gray. Gray built a distribution center in Georgia last year that earned a silver LEED certification at no additional cost, according to Wilson.
McBrayer's message to other executives who are considering constructing new buildings is that it's the right thing for the environment.
"I'd like to work toward silver or gold LEED certification on down the road," she said. "It's a great public relations thing to do for your community."