Dallas Hall LEED Platinum (EB)

[couch 'em]

http://www.halff.com/services/education.php

Looks like SMU is going to throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to get Dallas Hall to LEED Platinum. That's money SMU could be spending on an indoor practice facility.

[smu diamond m]

And being done by an Alumni-founded company.

A pretty darn good one, too.

[fivemon]

Working for a RE company that focus on getting Assets to LEED status, this is going to take a ton of work and be a lot of $$$.

[f4shionablecha0s]

Uh, they're only getting an estimate. Chill.

[Dutch]

to retrofit would be outrageously expensive. it's costly to do new build, it's almost impossible to retro.

[CalallenStang]

I would encourage SMU to not proceed past the estimate stage on the Dallas Hall LEED Retrofit. It was the first building on campus and should at least somewhat reflect the times in which it was built.

[Dutch]

agreed. worry about all the new buildings. it will be much easier, and carry the same goodwill, to make all the new buildings just silver LEED. don't even eff with platinum. it's not worth it.

[RE Tycoon]

it's costly to do new build

Big misnomer regarding LEED. If pursuing LEED from the project's inception, costs to achieve LEED (not Platinum obviously), can be the same as a comparable building or with a reasonable range (2-6%).

Now, although I'm a certified LEED professional, I'm not completely sold on LEED being the answer for a more sustainable built environment. As it is now however, it is the best option to convey to the public that your building has sustainable features.

Retrofitting doesn't have to be costly either, depending on where your mechanical systems are in their life cycle, the cost can likewise be negligible compared to a typical remodel. If your systems are in good shape and you choose to replace them, that is where the cost gets prohibitive.

I agree that Dallas Hall is probably not a candidate for an upper end LEED designation as that would require wholesale replacement of the buildings windows among other things. I am also an admirer of historic buildings and would hate to see the magnificent building's historic character altered.

[Bergermeister]

I am also an admirer of historic buildings and would hate to see the magnificent building's historic character altered.

Somewhat OT: If you ever have the opportunity to gain access to one of the outside balconies on the rotunda, check out the views of downtown Dallas and the campus. You can readily see that SMU IS "high on the hilltop in Big D". Wonder if the Mustang Band ever plays from up there... like the Longhorn band does from the UT Tower on Fridays.

[smu diamond m]

The Platinum talk, I'm sure, is rhetoric. A lot of mitigation work is already going to have to be done in Dallas Hall when they do [inevitably] renovate it. They will obviously miss out on the "easy" NC credits, but keep in mind under LEEDv3 you can pick up TONS of credits for things typically considered "creature comforts." Of the 80 points required the LEEDv3 Platinum Schools New Construction and Major Renovations, 29 of them you couldn't tell from the current Dallas Hall.

They also could be talking about attaining the Operation and Maintanence certification, under LEED for Existing Buildings. This is an extensive process, which would have an incredibly minimal effect on the current stature of the building.

For those of you with no (or limited) LEED knowledge, LEEDv3 is the newest iteration of an ever changing guideline to design, build, and operate USGBC certified "green" buildings. Here's 108 boring pages about it:
LEED 2009 FOR SCHOOLS NEW CONSTRUCTION AND MAJOR RENOVATION
LEED for EXISTING BUILDINGS: OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE

[smu diamond m]

UPDATE:
After re-reading the Halff entry:

Dallas Hall, constructed in 1915, was the first building built on the Southern Methodist University (SMU) campus. Halff Associates is currently assisting SMU by providing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED) consulting in analyzing pre-requisites and developing strategies to achieve Platinum LEED EB Certification of Dallas Hall.

They are talking about doing an Existing Buildings: O&M cert...

[CalallenStang]

UPDATE:
After re-reading the Halff entry:

Dallas Hall, constructed in 1915, was the first building built on the Southern Methodist University (SMU) campus. Halff Associates is currently assisting SMU by providing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED) consulting in analyzing pre-requisites and developing strategies to achieve Platinum LEED EB Certification of Dallas Hall.

They are talking about doing an Existing Buildings: O&M cert...

I wouldn't mind going for the O&M

[FroggieFever]

LEED is overrated. It'd be much better if it catered to regions instead of a universal language.

[couch 'em]

Looking at the O&M requirements https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3617
just based on credit titles, you're looking at complete replacement of all HVAC and controls, rezoning, etc., complete replacement of lighting, redoing all the bathroom fixtures, and a bunch of BS like using "green cleaning products" and "waste stream audit".

A lot of weird stuff that I don't know how they'll really want to handle that are worth a lot of points. Looks like the lawn guys will have to use electric lawn mowers under SSc2! SSc4 is up to 4 points and is about reducing commuters through compressed workweeks, telecommuting, etc. How does that apply here? No Friday classes?

Is Dallas Hall protected from ADA by being a historical building? There is no way the ancient elevator, bathrooms, etc. meet ADA in that place.

[smu diamond m]

No structure is ADA exempt if they meet that subjective renovation "cap." I don't think Dallas Hall is non-compliant to any major degree -- turning spaces, bathroom clearances and clear height requirements aside...

And all of those things (HVAC systems, etc.) are probably due for replacement on a similar time-table for this. It seems as though you have a desire to find fault with SMU's due diligence on LEED registering an overhaul: given that it wouldn't change the exterior facade (the interior isn't anywhere what it was in 1950, much less 1915 when classes began), why are you against it? Getting an O&M cert on Dallas Hall is another link in the chain that SMU started when they built the Embrey Building. As more and more building on campus are renovated and built under SMU', O&M becomes particularly easy to integrate into the existing workflow.