July 2016

The “green” building movement as thought of by LEED standards has progressed well as applied to residences and commercial buildings, such as office buildings. But what about manufacturing? When we think of “factories”, we imagine large “clunky” buildings built for the necessities of 100 or more years ago, when energy and water were cheap and room was needed (and available) for assembly lines. With the decline in manufacturing in the U.S. over the last few decades, few have thought it worthwhile to invest in green features in old manufacturing buildings.

However, the U.S. Green Building Council recently released a short report “LEED in Motion: Industrial Facilities,” there are more than 1,775 LEED-certified industrial facilities, covering nearly 500 million square feet of space, with high future growth likely.

Many former industrial hubs have seen an increase in available, empty industrial buildings that are primed to be refurbished or repurposed. Meeting LEED certification standards by demonstrating excellent energy, water, resources, waste, etc. performance makes such efforts worthwhile. Pittsburgh is considered the leader in this effort, as its municipal government has encouraged repurposing and refurbishing its large stock of former factories through LEED.

Why is the “greening” of factories necessary and beneficial? First of all, the economics of operating a manufacturing plant has changed compared to decades ago. Energy, water, waste management were easily available and cheap; not so anymore. Space is more of a premium, too. Factories have to be more efficient in resource management to meet the new realities of the market. In addition, US industry is competing in global markets where labor costs, which are often much greater then resource costs, are cheaper. As “LEED in Motion: Industrial Facilities” states, U.S. manufacturing buildings must be more efficient when it comes to not only energy, water, and waste, but also labor productivity. LEED buildings of all types result in high-performing buildings where the health of the labor force is enhanced.

The first packaged-goods manufacturer to achieve a LEED Platinum rating is Method Product’s cleaning products factory in Chicago. Method heavily invested in renewable energy and the world’s largest rooftop farm, expected to produce 500 tons of food annually. Method estimated that the plant cost them about $30 million, about 33% higher had it aimed for a lower LEED rating, but that they would make the extra money back quickly in increased productivity, reduced costs, and reduced transportation costs.

CCES can assess your current or prospective industrial facilities and determine whether they are candidates for upgrades to become more “green” and to estimate the necessary investment, payback, and profit of different green strategies. We can assist whether you wish to do a complete green upgrade or want to address one issue at a time. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.