CITY TAKES LEED IN CONSIDERING GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENTS
Houston Business Journal, by Jenna Colley June 25, 2004 -- Houston Mayor Bill White may have set the tone when he opted for an energy-efficient smart car instead of the gas-guzzling sedan that transported predecessor Lee Brown around town.
Now, the City of Houston is showing signs of growing environmental awareness by encouraging "green building" practices in the construction of city structures.
For several months, the city has been working with Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit the United States Green Building Council to determine the feasibility of Houston implementing a municipality-wide certification that would require contractors erecting city buildings to adhere to environmentally responsible guidelines.
The buzzword of choice is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, or LEED, a rating system devised by the nonprofit that is quickly becoming the national standard for certifying whether a project is ecologically friendly or not.
The certification relies on a points-based rating system, with 69 points being the highest and 29 being the lowest.
The city has already begun writing this type of eco-friendly certification requirement into its request for qualifications on city projects. Four local LEED-certified projects are already under way, including the Westside Police Station, the new Downtown Fire Superstation, the South Post Oak Multi-Service Center and Library and a vehicle maintenance facility.
City planners are hoping these projects will demonstrate how city buildings can curb Houston's reputation as a non-environmentally conscious city, not to mention general quality of life issues for patrons of the structures.
City officials are pushing to require that the LEED certification be a standard for new or replacement facilities and for major renovations of city-owned buildings and facilities spanning more than 10,000 square feet.
The new requirement will bring Houston in line with Austin and Dallas, both of which have already implemented green building practices.
Texas as a whole is active in terms of LEED buildings.
There are a handful of projects in the Lone Star State that have already received the green stamp of approval, with 49 buildings seeking the certification statewide. Twenty of those are public projects, ranging from the Dallas Airport Terminal and Austin City Hall to fire stations, police buildings and schools.
Private companies in Texas have also jumped on the eco-friendly bandwagon.
Currently, 29 private buildings commissioned by corporations like Tivoli Systems in Austin and Sabre Corp. for a corporate campus in Cottonwood are LEED-certified.
One local department won't have to participate in the project, however.
The rule won't apply to buildings owned, managed or constructed by the Houston Airport System -- a department technically under the control of the city but that operates under a different set of funding than its tax dollar-driven colleagues in other areas of city government.
Good return
The City of Houston rarely gets money back from contractors hired for city jobs. Indeed, a recent refund of nearly $6 million on a $106 million city project needs to be put into context.
Three years after its commissioning caused a major brouhaha at City Hall, the city's first privatized water plant opened this week, with the plant's overseers presenting the city with a $5.75 million check. The reason: The project was completed on schedule and on budget.
That money was put aside in case the project went over budget. Because the project was finished on time, the extra money wasn't needed.
Design, construction and operation of the Northeast Water Purification Plant -- located on 152 acres abutting the western shore of Lake Houston -- was overseen by a nonprofit corporation created by the city called the Houston Area Water Corp., or HAWC.
City Hall watchers may remember the drama surrounding the commissioning of the plant in 2001.
In August 2000, Houston City Council created HAWC to act as a liaison between the city and Montgomery Watson, the then California-based company hired to handle the job.
That same year, Montgomery Watson merged with HARZA Engineering to form Broomfield, Colo.-based MWH, which became the official contractor for the job.
In July 2001, the board waffled between companies before choosing Montgomery Watson over then-crumbling Enron Corp.'s water and wastewater subsidiary, Azurix Corp.
City officials faced criticism at the time for authorizing HAWC to sidestep bidding requirements for the plant.
But it looks as if that might all be water under the bridge -- to some extent.
While the check presentation may have provided a good photo opportunity for HAWC Chairman David Berg and city officials, the city had to dole out an additional $42 million last October in addition to the $104 million originally awarded for the job.
The second funding infusion wasn't without merit, though.
The $42 million was needed for a second phase after public works officials brokered off the first batch of water to municipal utility districts, subdivisions and businesses. The extra money covered what the plant was originally intended to do -- provide water to city of Houston users.
