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- Steve Roznowski talks with Kirk Heinze on WJR
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Christman building in downtown Lansing has become the world’s first double-platinum LEED-certified building.
The building isn’t new; in fact, it’s been around for 82 years, well before it became the corporate headquarters for Christman Company, a construction management company.
For Steve Roznowski, the chairman and CEO of the Christman Company, it makes sense for the company to strive for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.
“We see a real synergy with our dedication to historic preservation and our dedication to green and sustainable buildings,” he says. “It’s just logical for a building that’s already there and has already got an embodied energy. … It is a shame to waste.”
According to the U.S. Green Building Council, which developed the LEED certification system, “LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.”
“A lot of people think it is strictly related to energy efficiency, which is a component of it,” says Roznowski, “but it really looks at the entire building.”
LEED certification takes into account a building’s interaction with its environment, its connectivity to the community, its indoor environmental quality and its operating efficiency, he says.
The Christman Building is not only platinum certified for its core in shell – its construction – but also for its interior.
The building has raised access floors so heating and ventilating comes up through the floor and about 95 percent of the work spaces have access to sunlight, says Roznowski.
“The fresh air in the building, the daylight in the building, create a vibrancy and an energy here that I think all of our people really feel and appreciate,” he says.
“When you move onto the interior fit-out, you start looking at materials, carpeting and wall coverings,” says Roznowski. “Materials that come from sustainable sources that are manufactured within a close radius of the facility itself, so that you aren’t burdening the ecology with transportation and the costs with that and related pollution.”
While some may believe that constructing a building to be LEED certified is too expensive, Roznowksi says that it doesn’t need to be – there are plenty of tax incentives available for historic buildings and green buildings.
“You have to make yourself knowledgeable,” he says. With knowledge and planning, one can build a LEED-certified building without a high cost. It also takes a little creativity, he says.
“But it’s not totally focused on, as I like to say, making sure that your flooring is made out of recycled oatmeal or some of the more ridiculous things that you hear about,” says Roznowksi. “But really just creating a healthy environment. That’s really what I’m proudest of.”
“It just feels good,” he says. “I know I feel great coming in here in the morning and seeing our atrium all lit up with fresh sunshine.”
Click on the arrow above to hear Roznowski's August 20 Greening of the Great Lakes conversation with Kirk Heinze. Greening of the Great Lakes airs Friday evenings at 7 on News/Talk 760 WJR.
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