GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE
| Country: | USA |  |
|---|---|---|
| Product group: | lighting and building components | |
| Name of the Institution: | United States Postal Service (USPS) |
Overview
The USPS is among one of the largest facilities managers in the United States in either the private or public sector. The facilities department:
- Owns 8,800 facilities and leases 25,840 for a total of 34,640 facilities comprising over 300 million square feet of space;
- Doesn’t keep track of buildings by age, but by how long the USPS has occupied them. In nearly 40 percent of its facilities, the organization has been a tenant/occupant for more than 30 years;
- Has 760 authorized positions, with 137 of the 760 working at Facilities Headquarters.
The department is nationally recognized and best known for its commitment to sustainability and energy-efficient design; you can’t talk USPS facilities without talking green. With the construction of 500 to 700 facilities annually, USPS has one of the largest construction programs in the nation. The organization recognized a unique opportunity to implement widespread green building techniques.
With a goal of not exceeding construction costs by more than 10 percent above standard project costs, the USPS tests sustainable strategies on “showcase projects” to see which ones are successful. The first showcase project completed was 8th Avenue Station of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Specifications of the Institution
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| Website: | http://www.usps.com |
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Organisation of the procurement
The 8th Avenue Station of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in Fort Worth, Texas, assembled a task force with the sole purpose of “greening” the organization’s current design criteria, which are the key elements of USPS’s Building Design Standards. The task force identified approximately 120 environmental attributes that were incorporated into the organization’s building design standards. The materials and systems used to construct the 8th Avenue USPS office building were selected to promote a healthy indoor environment and water and energy efficiency and to maintain the environmental integrity of the local ecosystem. USPS was able to incorporate a significant number of environmental attributes into the new post office without compromising its budget.
Measures
Some of the environmental attributes included in the building were the installation of skylights, use of paints and adhesives with zero or low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and use of organic (not chemical) fertilizers for the station's grounds. Additional environmental features of the 8th Avenue station are listed below:
- Indigenous landscaping;
- 20 percent recycled-content concrete (contains fly ash);
- Recycled-content gypsum board and ceiling tiles;
- 90 percent post consumer recycled-content steel;
- Recycled-content dock bumpers and floor mats (contains recycled tires);
- Recycled-content plastic toilet partitions, tree grates, and workroom bumpers;
- Heat-reflecting exterior ceramic coating system;
- Energy-efficient low-emissivity glazing;
- Natural lighting supplemented by energy-efficient fluorescent lighting with automatic dimming controls;
- Full spectrum lighting;
- Occupancy sensors installed in frequently used rooms;
- High-efficiency heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system;
- Rainwater harvesting system for irrigation;
- Compressed straw exterior wall panels made from alternative agricultural products;
- Compressed natural gas refuelling station for fleet vehicles.
Success
The 8th Avenue Station not only incorporated all the environmental attributes, but also pushed the envelope by showcasing many new initiatives. The building is primarily constructed from recycled materials, uses some of the most innovative energy-efficient systems available, and includes features to improve indoor air quality.
Opened in January 1999, the 26,000-square-foot, $2.5 million post office serves as the showcase of the USPS Green Buildings Program and demonstrates its commitment to Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP).
Since opening in January 1999, USPS has been monitoring the performance of the various environmental features of the new facility. Anticipated savings include $1,100 per year in energy conservation and one million gallons–or $2,800–of water each year.
Further publicly available info about the concrete project
Web pages:
http://www.buildings.com/Articles/detail.asp?ArticleID=2578
http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/ppg/case/usps2.htm
http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/FedPioneers.pdf
