PROJECT DISCRIPTION

StopWaste, a public agency responsible for reducing the waste stream in Alameda County, California, has been helping residents and businesses adopt sustainable consumption and disposal habits. They are governed jointly by three Boards, the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board, and the Energy Council. Therefore, there was no question that the 14,000 square foot, two-story building that it purchased and renovated for its offices had to be green.

Using the USGBC LEED Green Building Rating System, StopWaste aimed for LEED Silver certification and quickly surpassed their initial goal, becoming the first building renovation project in the nation to receive Platinum certification. An important part of reaching this goal was earning all of the possible LEED credits for optimizing energy performance. Energy modeling software shows that the building outperforms Title 24-2005, stringent California energy code, by 47%.

To achieve the 10 energy performance points, StopWaste hired Integral Group, an Oakland-based firm with extensive experience designing low energy building systems, to make the building and HVAC systems far more efficient than a standard building.

Therma-Fuser™ diffusers were selected in order to gain energy savings and meet budget concerns. The use of Therma-Fuser diffusers, combined with the elimination of reheat, through the use of high-efficiency windows, met the demands for tight, zoned control and resulted in significant budget savings and USGBC LEED Platinum certification.

StopWaste went through recertification and became the first project in the world to receive LEED v4 Platinum certification.

TESTIMONIAL

STUART RICKARD
PLACEWORKS LLC