El “Chapulin Colorado” Goes Green #2

 

In last month’s first installment of National Gypsum’s four-part Hispanic educational series titled “Chapulin Goes Green,” three members of the Hispanic building community shared why they think it’s essential for contractors to get to know more about “green” building practices.

By embracing a health-conscious, environmentally friendly building approach, construction teams reduce a building’s negative impact on the environment for future generations. But there’s a short term benefit, too – a competitive edge for contractors and businesses that choose to adopt this trend early as the demand for green buildings grows.

In this month’s article, one Hispanic business owner shares how he and his team stay up-to-date on high-performance building news, and when he believes it’s the right choice to go green. In addition, we’ll offer a few common examples of how to make a jobsite more environmentally friendly.

The difference pays for itself

Luis Colon is co-owner and president of Denver’s Colon-Collawn Construction and has spent more than a decade in the building industry.

He believes green building is both a healthier and more fiscally responsible building approach, not only for the owner/operator but also for the construction team.

“It’s very short-sighted to argue that sustainable construction is too expensive,” Colon says. “In my experience, though the certification process can be costly, the green products and practices themselves add no more than 2 percent to a project’s total budget.”

That difference pays for itself, Colon says, in the form of increased energy efficiency, better indoor air quality and other common benefits of sustainable design.

“We emphasis the importance of good indoor air quality not only for a building’s end users, but also for members of the construction team,” he says. “We circulate the air in the space so workers aren’t exposed to fumes and dust. If for some reason we can’t properly ventilate the area, we provide protection to keep our team safe, healthy and productive on the jobsite.”

Colon believes it’s important to be well-versed in the sustainable products and techniques used on the jobsite. He regularly reads green building industry publications and keeps useful information readily accessible for when he needs it.

“We do our research and keep an eye on what’s out there,” he says. “Then, when we have an opportunity to specify, we determine where we can find the product we want and negotiate to get it cost effectively.”

The ultimate goal of high-performance design, of course, is to create an environmentally friendly facility. But even as owners begin to put more pressure on contractors, Colon says practicality remains key.

“We have to use green products and practices where they make sense,” he says. “If the ‘greening’ of a project is overdone, it can quickly become more expensive than it should be.”

Reducing a job's environmental impact

One common way to reduce a job’s environmental impact is to use regional materials.

National Gypsum, for example, is one of the nation’s largest producers of gypsum board and related products. The company operates plants across the country, which means it can work with distributors and contractors to reduce the time, cost and air pollution associated with long-distance shipping of its products.

Much of National Gypsum’s gypsum board is made from recycled materials, including 100 percent recycled facing paper and, in some cases, byproduct or synthetic gypsum, which is produced when coal-fired power plants scrub stack emissions. By recycling the byproduct of this scrubbing process, the company uses material that would otherwise go to landfills.

In addition to using recycled products, contractors can be green by recycling clean scrap whenever possible.

It’s estimated that construction materials such as wood, masonry, roofing materials and drywall can account for up to 25 percent of all solid waste sent to landfills each year.

As an alternative, contractors can work with their local solid waste departments to identify reclamation sites that can repurpose clean construction waste. Drywall, for example, can be recycled back into the manufacturing process or converted into products that can be used in the agricultural industry.

Improving indoor air quality during construction, using recycled materials and identifying reclamation sites are just three ways contractors can work with owners and architects to green a jobsite. As the sustainable building trend continues to take hold, it will become increasingly important for contractors to tap resources like the U.S. Green Building Council, industry publications and educational Web sites to learn more about how they can effectively use green products and practices on the job.

In next month’s piece, El Chapulin Colorado will take a more in-depth look at indoor air quality and what it means when a product achieves GREENGUARD Certified status.

Helpful Links
National Gypsum - www.nationalgypsum.com/espanol

U.S. Green Building Council - www.usgbc.org

For other relevant searches, you might want to try:
(09250) Gypsum Board