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GUIDELINES ISSUED FOR GREENER RETAIL

For years developers wanting to build environmentally friendly stores and shopping centers have had to rely on guidelines intended for office buildings. That is about to change.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USBG) is developing new, retail-specific standards, as well as guidelines for mixed-use in-fill projects, said Rebecca L. Flora, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based, nonprofit Green Building Alliance, who serves on the council’s board. The USGBC is the Washington, D.C.-based building industry coalition responsible for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for green buildings.

Designed for both new construction and major renovations, these retail-specific LEED standards deal with green power, water-efficient landscaping, indoor-pollutant control and more. The council is now accepting applications (available at www.usgbc.org) from builders interested in pilot-testing the guide. Executives from such retailers as Starbucks and Target helped devise these standards, Flora says.

The second tool, called LEED for Neighborhood Developments, will “integrate the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national standard for neighborhood design,” according to USGBC. The council is taking public comments on an early draft, which is available at www.usgbc.org, and a pilot program slated for this summer will enable builders to have their projects rated according to the new standards. The New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group with 1.2 million members, helped craft the rating system, says Flora.

Green building is getting a second look from developers and retailers, says Dennis J. Wilde, senior project manager for Portland, Ore.-based Gerding/Edlin Development Co. The firm won praise in a recent Sierra Club report for making extensive use of green technology in the Brewery Blocks, a downtown Portland redevelopment involving the transformation of historic brew houses into 1.7 million square feet of retail, office and residential space. During construction, a recycling program diverted 96 percent of construction waste from landfills. The use of energy-efficient windows, lighting and insulation, and solar power will cut costs by 20 to 30 percent a year, the club says.

Also cited in the Sierra Club report, titled Building Better: A Guide to America’s Best New Development Projects, is Atlantic Station, in Atlanta. This 138-acre, mixed-use project uses a variety of energy-efficient systems and materials and boasts the first high-rise office building in Georgia to receive LEED certification.

Proponents of green building say all this makes good economic sense. In an era where asthma and other respiratory problems are increasingly common, Wilde says, the use of nontoxic paints can be a major selling point for condos and lofts. And stores that use natural light, a major element of green design, have happier employees and rack up higher sales, according to studies. “If a customer walks into your space and it is more pleasant,” said Flora, “they want to stay there longer.”

— JG