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Columbia, SC Pursues First LEED Government Building

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The first government building in Columbia to purse LEED certification is now underway. The $15 million water distribution and wastewater management facility is aiming for LEED Silver, according to the ColaDaily.com.

The facility will comprise a new 15,000-square-foot administration building, a 36,000-square-foot warehouse and an 11,000-square-foot air-conditioned storage space that includes a guardhouse, covered fleet storage space and an area to hold materials and equipment. An outdoor area will serve as a service bay and include bulk material storage bins. The Columbia office of Watson Tate Savory (WTS) designed the project and Irmo, S.C.-based Contract Construction is serving as the general contractor.

The building is being constructed on the site of a former car dealership that sat vacant for almost 20 years, said Diane Wiley, president of the Belvedere Neighborhood Association, to ColaDaily.com.

“This is going to be an opportunity for adaptive reuse; this is going to be an opportunity for job creation in this community,” said Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin in a statement. “It’s a strategic placement of necessary public investment.”

More than 300 employees from the city’s Utilities and Engineering Department will work at the new facility, which Benjamin said would provide a boost to the surrounding businesses, according to ColaDaily.com.

In order to achieve LEED Silver, the mayor’s office is looking to incorporate six rain gardens around the property that will capture and filter stormwater to reduce runoff. In addition, the administration building will have a green roof to reflect sunlight and absorb less heat. The proposed landscape design is also intended to lower irrigation by as much as half of the standard usage.

“This is the first building for which the city of Columbia will be seeking LEED certification,” said Victoria Kramer, utilities communications manager for the city of Columbia’s Department of Utilities and Engineering. “In addition, this is the first city-owned building that will have a green roof.”

Other green-building strategies for the project include low-flow fixtures that are designed to reduce indoor water use by 30 percent, while bicycle storage and changing rooms with showers will encourage employees to use alternative modes of transportation like cycling. Plans also call for the use of LED lighting and sensors on light fixtures to cut down on energy usage by more than 30 percent in all facilities.

“We’re very excited about this project. For years, our water and wastewater maintenance staff has been packed very tightly in our existing facility. By moving into this new facility, it will give us an opportunity to expand and improve our operations,” said Joey Jaco, director of Utilities and Engineering for the city of Columbia, to ColaDaily.com.

The project is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2017.