Sustainable Sites | Energy & Atmosphere | Materials & Resources | Indoor Environmental Quality | LEED Projects
Earning LEED® v3 Credits through the use of Translucent Daylighting Systems
The green concept has been advanced by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a coalition of building industry leaders working to promote environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. Light, airy, open environments are the key. And these are building environments that have been proven to boost worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, help students learn and increase worker satisfaction.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has become a cornerstone of sustainable design among building owners, architects, engineers and contractors. Many municipalities across the country have mandated that all new public buildings, even if not actually submitted for LEED certification, must at least be designed and built with the goal of achieving certification.
One of the easiest ways to gather LEED credits revolves around lighting. Kalwall's translucent skylight, window and wall systems, plus Clearspan skylights and pool enclosures from Structures Unlimited, Inc., are uniquely suited to achieve the desired results.
Possible LEED credit contributions as a result of incorporating into your design Structures Unlimited's unique, self-supporting aluminum structure technology blended with Kalwall's translucent skylight and wall systems include:
Sustainable Sites
Credit 7.2 – Heat Island Effect, Roof (1 point) "Use roofing materials with a solar reflectance index (SRI) ... for a minimum of 75% of the roof's surface."
• Utilizing the white exterior face sheet, and depending on design configurations, the Kalwall panel meets emissivity requirements to reduce Heat Island Effect for roofs.
Credit 8 – Light Pollution Reduction (1 point) "All openings in the envelope with a direct line of sight to any nonemergency luminaries must have shielding (... for a resultant transmittance of less than 10% between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.). Meeting ... ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007 ..."
• Without the need for additional shielding, Kalwall's light-diffusing characteristics can reduce light transmittance to less than 10%, preventing direct-beam illumination from leaving the building interior.
Prerequisite 2 – Minimum Energy Performance (prerequisite)
"Demonstrate a 10% improvement in building performance rating for new buildings or a 5% improvement for major renovations. Calculate the baseline building performance ... Appendix G of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007... using a computer simulation model ..."
• Kalwall is the most highly insulating, diffuse-light-transmitting system available. With insulating values up to and exceeding R-20 (.05 U), conductive winter heat loss is kept to a minimum. Additionally, Kalwall's low solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), as low as .05, significantly reduces summer heat gain, greatly reducing tonnage requirements for air conditioning systems, while lowering utility bills. Daylight Modeling is available from Kalwall.
Credit 1 – Optimize Energy Performance (up to 19 points)
"Demonstrate a percentage improvement in the proposed building performance rating compared to the baseline building performance rating ... according to Appendix G of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007..."
• Kalwall provides superior winter and summer energy efficiency while transmitting diffuse daylight.
Credit 2 – On-Site Renewable Energy, 1% to 13% (up to 7 points)
"Use on-site renewable energy systems to offset building energy cost. Calculate project performance ... as a percentage of the building annual energy cost (1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 9%, 11% or 13%) ... "
• Since the 1950s, Kalwall has been involved with both passive and active solar technologies. Kalwall's window systems, as well as skylights from Structures Unlimited, Inc., can accept BIPV panels.
Credit 4 – Recycled Content, 10% or 20% (post-consumer + ½ pre-consumer) (up to 2 points) "Use materials with recycled content such that the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the pre-consumer content constitutes at least 10% or 20%, based on cost, of the total value of the materials in the project."
• A typical Kalwall system contains ± 20% post-consumer/pre-consumer recycled content, primarily in the aluminum extrusions used in fabricating the Kalwall panels and in the aluminum Clamp-titeTM installation system. Structures Unlimited's clearspan skylights and pool enclosures have an even greater recycled content, up to 40% or more, due to the aluminum box beam structure inherent to these systems.
Credit 5 – Regional Materials, 10% or 20% Extracted, Processed & Manufactured Regionally (up to 2 points) "Use building materials or products that have been ... manufactured within 500 miles of the project site for a minimum of 10% or 20%, based on cost, of the total materials value. If only a fraction of a product or material is extracted, harvested, or recovered and manufactured locally, then only that percentage (by weight) can contribute to the regional value."
• Kalwall panels and the Structures Unlimited, Inc. self-supporting aluminum structures are manufactured in Manchester, New Hampshire. A 500 mile-radius includes the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC. Determination of extraction, processing and manufacturing percentage of each system will be made at time of fabrication.
Credit 6.2 – Controllability of Systems (1 point)
"Provide individual comfort controls for 50% (minimum) of the building occupants to enable adjustments to suit individual needs and preferences. Operable windows may be used in lieu of controls..."
• Kalwall wall and window replacement systems can have project-in and project-out windows for fresh air ventilation. Operable roof panels in a Structures Unlimited, Inc. system, bring in outside air.
Credit 7.1 – Thermal Comfort, Design (1 point)
"Design ... building envelope to meet the requirements of ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 ... Thermal Comfort Conditions for Human Occupancy.
• Unlike traditional glazing material, Kalwall's thermally broken technology all but eliminates undesirable thermal gain and loss. It also prevents condensation that builds up when exterior and interior temperatures vary.
Credit 8.1 – Daylight & Views, Daylight (1 to 2 points)
"Option 1: Demonstrate, through computer simulation, that 75% or more of all regularly occupied spaces achieve daylight illuminance levels of a minimum of 25 footcandles (fc) and a maximum of 500 fc in a clear sky condition on September 21 at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m."
• A computerized daylight modeling analysis is available to assist in achieving proper footcandle levels within a building. The daylight simulation (RADIANCE) shows compliance with LEED daylighting requirements. Annual Daylight Autonomy levels can also be shown, using real-world weather files for project location. Both methods show the impact of daylight design on any building space. Visit DaylightModeling.com.
"Option 2: Provide sunlight redirection and/or glare control devices to ensure daylight effectiveness."
• Kalwall's unique translucent systems diffuse sunlight and transmit controlled daylighting into any building without shadows, glare or hotspots and without the need for external solar controls or internal shelves, blinds and/or curtains.
Credit 8.2 – Daylight and Views, Views (1 point)
"Achieve a direct line-of-sight to the outdoor environment via vision glazing ... for building occupants in 90% of all regularly occupied areas."
• Kalwall wall panels, curtainwall and window replacement systems can easily and effectively integrate fixed and operable windows glazed with glass for connection to the outdoors. Skylights from Structures Unlimited, Inc. can integrate fixed-glass panels as well as operable roof systems for natural ventilation.
Click to view and print a v3 Score Sheet, in Excel format, of possible LEED credit contribution for Kalwall/Structures Unlimited products.
Kalwall has been used in many LEED projects. Following is a sampling of certified projects:
PLATINUM
Inland Empire Utilities Agency; Chino, CA
Yale Sculpture Gallery; New Haven, CT
Harvard University-Blackstone Office; Cambridge, MA
Sidwell Friends School; Bethesda, MD
Shangri La Botanical Gardens; Orange, TX
BRONZE
Physical Fitness Center; Barksdale AFB, LA
GOLD
South East Division Police Station; Alberta, Canada
East Valley Bus Maintenance Depot; Tempe, AZ
Lewis and Joan Platt East Palo Alto Family YMCA; Palo Alto, CA
Barnard Environmental Magnet School; New Haven, CT
Navy Federal Credit Union; Pensacola, FL
Doyle Conservation Center; Leominster, MA
element Hotel (Starwood); Lexington, MA
Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise (Monsanto); St. Louis, MO
Patagonia Distribution Center; Reno, NV
American Honda; Gresham, OR
Clearview Elementary School; Hanover, PA
The School of The Future; Philadelphia, PA
Longwood University Student & Wellness Center; Farmville, VA
SILVER
Boulder Community Hospital; Boulder, CO
Burton Family Football Complex; Storrs, CT
A.J. Martini Building; Winchester, MA
Weather Forecast Office; Caribou, ME
Steelcase; Grand Rapids, MI
Bozeman Public Library; Bozeman, MT
Primex3; Concord, NH
Hampton Bays Middle School; Hampton Bays, NY
Tompkins County SPCA; Ithaca, NY
Elements IV Interiors; Dayton, OH
Lexington Medical Center, West Columbia, SC
OSHA Lab Science Building; Salt Lake City, UT
CERTIFIED
Apache Junction City Facilities; Apache Junction, AZ
EcoWorks; Olathe, KS
Detroit Lions Training Facility; Dearborn, MI
Miley Achievement Center; Las Vegas, NV
Enable; Syracuse, NY
New Corona Car Washer & Maintenance Facility; Queens, NY
Salt Lake City College Health Sciences Center; Salt Lake City, UT
Old Dominion University-Engineering & Computational Science; Norfolk, VA
Additional LEED Candidates
LEED Accredited Professional
Michael Crowder, CSI, National Sales Manager for Structures Unlimited, Inc., has demonstrated his knowledge of integrated design and his capacity to facilitate the LEED certification process by becoming a LEED Accredited Professional. Crowder brings his understanding of green building practices and principles and his familiarity of the USGBC and LEED requirements, resources and processes to projects for both Kalwall Corporation and Structures Unlimited.
Kalwall Corporation and Structures Unlimited, Inc., are strategic partners.