Going Green: New Base Buildings Receive LEED Recognition

Editor's note: This military-written story was provided by the DVIDs website.

By Cpl. Jovane Henry

Employees of Soltek Pacific Construction, Harper Construction Company Inc. and R.A. Burch Construction Company Inc. received recognition at the second Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification ceremony at the Pacific Views South Mesa Club on base Wednesday.

LEED is an internationally recognized, green-building certification system which provides third-party verification that a building was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving overall performance, including: energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

A total of five buildings were recognized during the ceremony as meeting all the requirements to rate LEED recognition at either the certified, silver, gold or platinum level.

The completion and certification of the completed buildings was a step in the right direction to creating and maintaining an energy efficient military, said Beth Brummitt, a member of the Board of Directors for the U.S. Green Building Council and guest speaker at the event.

“These buildings are the best in their class,” said Brummitt. “Energy efficiency is mission critical, and these buildings will decrease function costs and promote productivity.”

Soltek Pacific Construction presented plaques to Col. Nicholas F. Marano, commanding officer, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, for the newly constructed Marine Logistics Group Headquarters Bldg. 140121, which received a silver rating, and the 53 Area Fitness Center, which received the highest possible rating of platinum. Collectively, the new facilities boast a more than 50 percent reduction in overall energy use.

The 12 Area Child Development Center, erected by Harper Construction Company, Inc., received a gold LEED rating and was constructed with 100-percent wood from sustainably managed forests.

“An immense amount of time and effort went into the design and construction of this building,” said Desiree Gallagher, the design manager for Harper Construction. “We’re happy to say that every opportunity was seized to ensure our military families have the best product possible.”

R.A. Burch Construction Company Inc. scored silver LEED plaques for the new Military Police Company Bldg. 140127 and Combat Logistics Regiment 1 Bldg. 12023. The new buildings are expected to provide a 60-percent reduction in overall water usage.

Although the LEED ceremony was only the second to take place on Pendleton, base residents can expect many more to take place in the future, said Marano.

“We are working to fulfill our energy reduction mandates, and getting off to a great start,” said Marano. “These new buildings are absolutely great and it was a tremendous team effort for every construction company involved.”

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