Contact: April Ambrose
Phone: 501.227.0648
Email: marketing@ViridianUSA.com
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS – June 4, 2015: With the assistance of Viridian, the 12th Street Station was recently awarded Silver level of certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program.
“This building serves as a very strong commitment from the City to help encourage revitalization and economic growth which is long overdue,” said Ward 2, City Director Ken Richardson.
12th Street Station is a 46,400 square foot, two story, mixed-use, police station with additional retail space. The project is a $12.5 million facility located in south central Little Rock, AR and part of the 12th Street Redevelopment Plan, under guidance from City Director Ken Richardson. This development is part of improving the Midtown area as a whole and will serve as an anchor for the 12th street redevelopment with hopes to spur private investment and new businesses.
The design strives to combine sensible planning with appropriate architecture to create a new upgraded police station with state of the art equipment as well as a place for the community to enjoy. 12th Street Station is a two-story structure that will house patrol and detective functions with broad public access to retail/public service space on the first floor. There are three retail bays and one restaurant bay that are intended to be leased by the city to private businesses. The main lobby is intended to be used by the community as additional programming space beyond that which is available at the Willie Hinton Community Resource Center across Cedar Street. The building’s design anticipates departmental needs in both space and functional location for patrol workloads.
“When the community called for a safer and more sustainable neighborhood, the City of Little Rock and the Little Rock Police Department answered the call with the 12th Street Station. This LEED Silver facility shows the City’s commitment to people’s health, our local environment, and financial efficiency,” said April Ambrose, Senior Project & Territory Manager with Viridian. “The City is continuing to prove that the use of LEED as a third-party high-performing building verification tool, results in better buildings for us all.”
LEED is a voluntary third-party verified green building rating system that addresses the site, water energy, materials, and indoor environmental quality of the facility. The LEED certification of 12th Street Station was based on building achievements that have a positive impact on the facility itself and the broader community. Some of these achievements include:
- To incentivize alternate forms of transportation, preferred parking spaces preferred drop-off location for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles as well as bicycle storage is provided to help minimize pollution associated with traditional automobile use.
- More than 35% reduction of potable water over a baseline modeled comparison due to efficient faucet, toilet, and urinal fixtures.
- There is a 76% reduction of potable water used for irrigation compared to a typical irrigation system.
- 13% energy efficiency improvement over a baseline modeled comparison to a similar building constructed to the energy efficiency standard of ASHRAE 90.1-2007.
- To provide for continued energy and operational efficiency, all of the energy systems and the building envelope underwent fundamental and enhanced commissioning. This process prevents the excessive use of energy and reduces Greenhouse gas emissions.
- Of the materials used in construction: over 22% contained recycled content and over 31% were both extracted and manufactured from within 500 miles of the project site.
- Over 81% of the total construction waste generated was diverted away from landfills.
- 100% of the interior paints and coatings, adhesives and sealants, and flooring systems contained minimal or no Volatile Organic Content (VOC).
- Over 95% of occupants can adjust their own lighting and over 62% can adjust their thermal comfort while all multi-occupant spaces can adjust both.
“The green building movement offers an unprecedented opportunity to respond to the most-important challenges of our time, including global climate change, dependence on non-sustainable and expensive resources of energy and threats to human health,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The work of innovative building projects such as the 12th Street Station is a fundamental driving force in the green building movement.”
12th Street Station was designed by RPPY Architects and constructed by East Harding Construction. Viridian provided LEED Consulting, Fundamental and Enhanced Commissioning, Building Testing, and Energy Modeling services for the project.