First Park Meridian Campus - Achieving Sustainable Development and Cost Savings

[ By Johannson L. Yap ]

With skylights placed at regular intervals throughout the facility, a customer's lighting and electricity needs can be significantly reduced.

Like individuals throughout the U.S., many companies are becoming increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of their operations. This awareness involves not only the production of products, but also every aspect of the supply chain. From transportation to operations, companies are finding that by choosing eco-friendly options, they can reduce their environmental impact - and their cost of doing business at the same time.

As an owner, lessor and developer of industrial real estate, First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. has a vested interest in helping to create a cleaner, more energy efficient supply chain. To that end, it is pursuing and advancing sustainability practices throughout its regional offices, including implementing the use of environmentally friendly and energy efficient building design.

Creating Supply Chain Efficiencies

The First Park Meridian Campus is located one-half mile from the Interstate 5 exit in Lacey, within the Port of Olympia Free Trade Zone. The South Puget Sound area has experienced significant growth as an industrial real estate market over the past few years. Infill locations are increasingly rare in Tacoma and near the Port of Tacoma, spreading industrial development south.

In addition to ready highway access, The First Park Meridian Campus is located approximately 30 miles from a new intermodal facility which will be developed by the Ports of Olympia and Tacoma in conjunction with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. Locating a distribution center near a multi-modal hub, such as an intermodal rail yard, is another effective way to reduce the transportation costs of an industrial supply chain, as well as the environmental impact. According to the Association of American Railroads, railroads move one ton of freight an average of 436 miles on one gallon of gasoline. Each intermodal train reduces greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds for each ton-mile traveling by train rather than by truck. By offering customers environmentally friendly options for their industrial space and by developing near intermodal sites, industrial real estate providers can help reduce the energy needs of their customers and improve the environment.

In addition to improving the efficiency of a customer's supply chain, the buildings at The First Park Meridian Campus will be able to positively impact the community through several conservation measures employed at the park.

Zoning and design requirements can vary greatly from city to city based on ordinances set by local municipalities. Many communities have or are adopting ordinances designed to set environmental standards and preserve local characteristics. The city of Lacey has an ordinance which mandates that at least five percent of the lot area of a new development be dedicated to retaining existing trees. This preservation measure is part of Lacey's urban forestry program, which has helped the city earn the "Tree City USA" designation from the Arbor Day Foundation for 18 years. The older evergreen trees at The First Park Meridian Campus not only provide a more efficient noise barrier between the facilities and other buildings, they also prevent erosion, absorb carbon dioxide and preserve the natural forest environment.

Innovations in Sustainable Construction

The development also used rebar with 95 percent or more recycled content, and, where possible, recycled wood products including OSB strand board in the roof decking. Recycled products were also used for 20 percent of the major building materials, exceeding the LEED requirement for recycled content.

To reduce the electricity needed to operate the distribution centers, a large number of skylights were incorporated into the roof design. Adding skylights at regular intervals reduces a building's need for electricity by reducing the need for fluorescent lights during the day. Energy efficient roofs were employed to reduce the energy usage of each of the three buildings. Distribution centers and other types of industrial properties generally have higher heat island effects than other types of commercial real estate, as they are typically single-story facilities. To reduce the heat island effect, the buildings have white, single membrane TPO roofing. By reducing the heat absorbed into a building by a large roof, customers will need smaller HVAC systems for their heating and cooling loads, thereby reducing the electricity drawn.

First Industrial took an uncommon step for a speculative distribution warehouse project by commissioning the buildings. Commissioning, and especially enhanced commissioning, provides assurances to future users that the building's designs and systems will work as promised as related to energy efficiency. While typical in office construction, it is rare in industrial development, due to the prevalence of net leases.

It's all About the Water

The facilities were developed using sustainable practices, including extensive recycling from site materials and the use of recycled products for 20 percent of the major building materials.

In addition, the irrigation system was designed to be shut off after the plants have established themselves and pervious pavement was used to reduce storm runoff. Many cities throughout North America face the challenge of flash flooding due to storm runoff. Instead of being absorbed by the soil and reentering the water table, most storm water in cities gets funneled into sewers and dumped into local rivers, creating minor floods with every major storm. Permeable pavement helps mitigate this issue by allowing the soil beneath sidewalks and other paved areas to absorb water, naturally replenishing the water table and reducing the volume of runoff handled by sewers. Despite their benefits, permeable surface materials are not widely used, especially not in industrial developments. The reason for this slow adoption is that permeable paving materials typically have lower load-bearing capacity than conventional pavement. However, this problem is generally related to high speed or high traffic areas, not the conditions found in pedestrian areas or parking lots.

Another unique water conservation feature of the 1,154-acre mixed-use, master-planned park, in which The First Park Meridian Campus is located, is its centralized system for wetlands mitigation and storm water management. Runoff is funneled into a centralized retention pond where it is allowed to seep back into the groundwater after contaminants are removed by the grass-lined swales. Replenishing the water table through the soil, with what previously would have run into the sewer, can help renew small fish streams and even work to assist with salmon restoration, an important issue in the local community.

Water conservation features were also incorporated into the interiors of the three completed buildings, including commuter showers accessible for all users -- a unique feature for shell construction and usually a build-out decision left to individual customers. Through the use of several innovative fixtures, overall water use is expected to be reduced by more than 40 percent.

As companies evaluate their industrial supply chain needs, sustainable buildings are increasingly part of their decision equation because they can help reduce the environmental impact of a company's operations, while also decreasing ongoing operating costs, particularly those that are energy-related.