Aardex LLC will officially open the country’s largest speculative LEED Platinum building this month, not something it set out to do.
“The building didn’t start off specifically to be green. It started off specifically to be user-effective,” said Aardex principal Ben Weeks. “We started out to be a leader in the industry and change the way real estate is developed. That is also one of the goals of LEED, and to find that compatibility is rewarding. I think it’s a validation from outside that the path we started down in the first place was correct.” By conventional real estate thinking, Aardex’s 186,000-square-foot Signature Centre at Denver West is remarkable in that it is highly energy-efficient and sustainable, 100 percent preleased and, according to the developer, cost no more to construct than a typical Class A office building.
Aardex built the building because, after years of building government build-to-suits and collecting data about how things like daylighting and clean air improve employee productivity, it developed an entire strategy for “User Effective Buildings,” which it trademarked and outlined in a 2004 book. “Our effort to move forward with a User Effective design strategy really needed a workshop, a signature building,” said Weeks, adding Aardex was halfway through design of Signature Centre when it realized the building would meet or exceed the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold rating. It invested $350,000 taking the multimillion-dollar building through the LEED process, said Weeks, adding, “We’d do it again tomorrow in a heartbeat.” “In construction costs, we paid next to nothing.” Base lease rates at the Signature Centre average $18 per sf, about what tenants would pay for Class A space on the nearby Union Boulevard corridor. Expenses are around $8 per sf, or $2 per sf less than comparable space, according to Randy Swearingen, director of office development. The building incorporates an underfloor air delivery system, which brings fresh air in from the roof at 65 degrees and uses radiant heat and “chill beams” around the perimeter to heat or cool air as it passes inside the glazing. Diffusers in the floor of each space allow workers to individually adjust air flow, and thus temperature, to their own comfort level.
The mechanical system cost around $5 less per sf than a conventional system, and heating and air-conditioning are reduced by 30 percent, according to Weeks. “When design is thought about in a holistic fashion, many of these thought-to-be expensive strategies can be implemented at the same or quite often lesser costs,” said Weeks.
The building contains 40 waterless urinals, which cost more than their standard counterparts, but don’t require conventional piping and will save 1.6 million gallons of water a year. “That’s a lot of swimming pools," noted Swearingen. The idea that sustainable buildings cost more, he said, is a misconception that’s difficult for developers to overcome. “The real estate industry in general is noted for being the old school, good-old-boy network where not a lot of innovation has been put forth in elevating their job description to the next level,” said Swearingen, who believes the market will penalize developers who don’t embrace new design and construction strategies. The key is to include those strategies in the earliest stages of design; otherwise, they will cost more, he said. “If you change the way you think about design and construction, there won’t be a premium,” added project manager Matt Beecher.
The Signature Centre, designed by Binh Vinh, with MOA Architecture as the architect of record, incorporates special features like solar shades and light shelves, daylight sensors to control interior light levels, motion-sensitive light controls, and large perimeter windows and high ceilings that allow light to penetrate deep into the building. Underfloor wiring and moveable walls create spaces that can be reconfigured in days, rather than weeks. There is a focus on sustainable building materials; for example, carpet tiles, made out of recycled materials, can be individually removed and recycled again. Ninety-eight percent of the construction waste on the project was recycled, which cost less than taking it to a landfill, Beecher said. The building is close to amenities, schools and homes, which LEED credits for helping reduce environmental impacts.
A five-level building with 45,000sf floor plates, the Signature Centre will be feted during an Oct. 15 grand opening ceremony with Gov. Bill Ritter.
Gambro and Gambro BCT consume 155,000 sf of the building. Blue Sun Biodiesel and Aardex occupy the balance of the office space. The building also includes the Bravo Café (a deli), a fitness center and three levels of covered parking. Aardex is nearing final disposition of the Signature Centre, although it will retain an ownership position.
“One of the questions we are asked is whether there is a market premium being paid for buildings like this. I think the answer to that is no because there are not enough of them,” said Weeks. “There is a lot of market excitement and enthusiasm because buildings like this are seen as the future. What will happen instead of there being a premium for buildings like this, there will start to become a penalty for buildings that aren’t like this.”