Address: 1200 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Contact: Robert Watson, Senior Research Analyst
Phone: (202) 289-6868
Fax: (202) 289-1060
The Natural Resources Defense Council has been one of the nation’s leading environmental organizations for nearly twenty-five years. Through a combination of legal action and advocacy, backed by sound scientific research, NRDC has successfully campaigned for issues such as clean air and water, energy conservation, ecosystem protection, and the removal of toxic lead from gasoline. Supported by more than 350,000 members, NRDC’s attorneys and scientists promote environmental protection in offices located in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. The initiative to make its own offices environmentally sustainable began in 1988, when the New York headquarters’ leaders decided to re-locate. Since then, the other three offices have also incorporated environmentally sustainable features, with the one in Washington being the most comprehensive. In fact, 95 percent of the green materials used to construct NRDC’s Washington office were not even available in 1988, when the New York office was being constructed. NRDC attributes this explosion of available green products to initiatives like its own, which resulted in an increased demand for construction products with low environmental impact.
Purpose of Project: In creating its new Washington office space, NRDC intended to demonstrate leadership in environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient office design. The organization also wanted to provide a viable example of green architecture for both architects and businesses.
Reasons for Using Recycled Content Products: Through its use of recycled content construction materials, NRDC intended to reduce pollution from conventional manufacturing procedures, and to prove the feasibility of using these materials in an office setting.
Incentives for Using Recycled Content Products: NRDC’s major incentive in choosing to use recycled content products was to live up to its commitment of protecting natural resources by initiating the environmental leadership expected by its 350,000 members.
Architect/Designer:
Sheila Kaplan, Project Architect
Aime Vickers, Interior Design
Company:
Interplan, Inc.
170 Rollins Avenue
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: (301) 231-9770
Fax: (301) 770-2760
Contractor:
Turner Construction
Special Projects Division
4601 N. Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
Phone: (703) 841-5282
Fax: (703) 841-5245
Layout of Project: NRDC’s new office space takes up the fourth and fifth floors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Building in Washington, DC.
Specifications: NRDC’s greatest objectives in designing its Washington office were to maintain optimal indoor air quality, reduce the use of wood in construction, design the office for minimum energy consumption, and use recycled content construction materials where possible.
Barriers to Success: The greatest difficulties NRDC faced in using recycled content construction materials were the lack of familiarity with these products on the part of interior designers and construction workers, as well as finding manufacturers of these products.
Overcoming Barriers: Most of the barriers to success were overcome through product research, as well as learning by doing during the planning and construction process. Most of the product research was conducted by Robert Watson, Senior Research Analyst, of the NRDC.
Successes: Energy consumption due to lighting has been reduced by 75 percent. Overall energy consumption by the entire office has been reduced by 70 percent. A staircase connecting the two floors of the NRDC office space saves energy and staff time by reducing elevator use. Energy Star computers, monitors, and printers use about 40 percent less energy than similar machines. Paints with low VOC emissions were used. A high-filtration system to purify drinking water is used, eliminating the need for bottled drinking water, but still ensuring employee health. Only organic coffee is used in the kitchen, thereby eliminating the use of toxic pesticides that threaten ecosystems.
Recycled Content Products Used in Construction
Product: Ceiling Tiles, EKTA
Company:
Armstrong World Industries
P.O. Box 3001
Lancaster, PA 17604
Phone: (717) 397-0611
Fax: (717) 396-4270
Recycled content: 23% cellulose
Cost: $2.20/unit area; $37,847 total cost
Performance: Good
Product: Compressed straw walls, Enviro Panel
Company:
Stramit International (Company has since gone out of business)
Recycled content: 100% wheat straw
Cost: $.40/unit area; $8,180 total cost
Performance: Stramit walls absorbed paint very readily, so a prime coat had to be used. Because Stramit walls are solid, they provide better insulation and they also keep rooms quieter.
Product: Countertop substrate, Gridcore
Company:
Gridcore Systems International
1400 Canal Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90813
Phone: (562) 901-1492
Fax: (562) 901-1499
Recycled content: 100% paper
Cost: $2.55/unit area; $816 total cost
Performance: Good
Product: Countertop work surfaces, Environ
Company:
Phenix Biocomposites, Inc.
1511 North Gault Street
St. Peter, MN 56082
Phone: (507) 931-9787/(800) 324-8187
Fax: (507) 931-5573
Recycled content: 40% newsprint
Cost: $5.60/unit area; $10,080 total cost
Performance: Good
Product: Doors, Enviro Panel
Company:
Stramit International (Company has since gone out of business.)
Recycled content: 100% wheat straw
Quantity purchased: 270 cubic feet, saving two trees from being chopped down
Cost: $170/unit area; $13,940 total cost
Performance: Doors are very solid, are better sound barriers than particleboard doors.
Product: Floor Tiles, Stoneware Alabaster
Company:
Terra-Green Ceramics, Inc.
1650 Progress Drive
Richmond, IN 47374
Phone: (765) 935-4760
Fax: (765) 935-3971
Recycled content: Approximately 70% recycled glass
Quantity purchased: 300 sf.
Cost: $10.00/unit area; $2,940 total cost
Performance: Good
Product: Medium density fiberboard, Medite II
Company:
Medite Corporation
P.O. Box 4040
Medford, OR 97501
Phone: (541) 773-2522
Fax: (541) 779-9921
Recycled content: 100% wood scraps such as chips and sawdust
Cost: $1.15/unit area; $276 total cost
Performance: Good
Product: Medium density fiberboard, Wheat Board
Company:
PrimeBoard, Inc.
2111 North 3M Drive
Wahpeton, ND 58075
Phone: (701) 642-1152
Fax: (701) 642-1154
Recycled content: 100% wheat straw from agricultural waste
Cost: $.48/unit area; $2,304 total cost
Performance: Good
Product: Synthetic gypsum walls
Company:
Georgia-Pacific
Gypsum Wahlstrom Road
Savannah, GA 31498
Phone: (800) 327-2344
Fax: (800) 717-4763
Recycled content: 100% synthetic gypsum, an industrial by-product of titanium dioxide manufacture.
Cost: $1.50/unit area; $67,440 total cost.
Performance: Due to low moisture content, walls required an additional coat of primer. Otherwise, performance has been good.