Dec 8 2009
Midwest Research Institute (MRI) has earned LEED(R) Certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) following a $25 million renovation of its Kansas City headquarters facility, making it one of the first renovated laboratory facilities to receive LEED certification in Missouri.
MRI is one of the nation's leading independent scientific research organizations conducting contract research for government, industry and academia since 1944. LEED is the nations' preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
The goal of MRI's two-year renovation project, completed in January 2009, was two-fold: solve the Institute's space constraints driven by substantial growth over the past 10 years and provide a facility that contributes to a more sustainable environment. Today, operating within the same building footprint, MRI's Kansas City facility has nearly 50 percent more laboratory space, office space for an additional 150 staff and "green" design elements providing energy savings that have resulted in a reduction of nearly 600 metric tons of carbon dioxide when comparing adjusted energy usage data from the years 2008 to 2009.
Achieving LEED Certified certification was one of the design requirements given to PGAV Architects when designing the 80,000 sq. ft. renovation within the existing 250,000 sq. ft. headquarters facility. J.E. Dunn Construction Group, Inc. was responsible for the renovation construction.
LEED certification of the renovated 50-year- old MRI facility represents a significant accomplishment. It's inherently more sustainable to renovate a building than to raze it and rebuild; however, it's more difficult to earn LEED certification points due to existing conditions that must be accommodated. The challenge for sustainability was even greater since the MRI facility includes laboratories that require up to five times the energy of a typical office building.
"Through the design plan, MRI's aging office space and underutilized areas were transformed into an energizing and efficient combination of modular laboratory and open collaborative office space," said Mike Schaadt, PGAV Vice President. "The renovated area was reconfigured to draw in more natural light, increase systems efficiency, allow transparency into the laboratory space and allow staff to collaborate."
"Building operations are nearly 40 percent of the solution to the global climate change challenge," said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC President, CEO & Founding Chair. "While climate change is a global problem, innovative companies like MRI are addressing it through local solutions."
"Results of the renovation have been extremely successful," said Mark Breitenstein, MRI's Director of Facilities Management. "We have a state-of-art facility that provides an enhanced work environment for staff, it accommodates growth, and the LEED certification validates MRI's mission to support a sustainable future. MRI's renovation demonstrates that green choices do have a positive impact on older facilities."
Renovation features that contributed to the LEED certification include energy efficient windows, high-efficiency chillers, high-efficiency boilers, low-flow laboratory hoods, water saving devices, provisions for waste recycling, insulation, day lighting, high-efficiency lighting, green products in building materials, and low VOC emitting materials. The renovated areas save nearly 19 percent in energy costs compared to the baseline and the high efficiency plumbing fixtures reduce the volume of water used in the facility by nearly 29 percent. MRI also offers provisions that encourage staff to use public transportation, energy-efficient vehicles, and carpooling.
In addition, nearly 555,000 pounds of waste (representing 77 percent of the total waste) was recycled, over 17 percent of the new material cost used in the project came from recycled material, and more than 37 percent of the new material cost used in the project came from sources within 500 miles of MRI.
Source: http://www.mriresearch.org/