News
Otter Tail County building receives Sustainable Design Award
01/12/2009
The Otter Tail County Ottertail Operations Center was presented with the North Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Associations’ 2008 Sustainable Design Award. Each year the North Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association honors projects and their promoters and builders who demonstrate excellence and overall dedication in the industry. Awards were presented Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Ready Mix Concrete Awards Banquet at the Canad Inn Destination Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The Otter Tail County Ottertail Operations Center functions as both the Emergency Operations Center and a centrally located command post for the Otter Tail County Sherriff’s Department and is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) facility in Otter Tail and surrounding counties. The Otter Tail County Board of Supervisors made a long term commitment to sustainable design with the construction of this building. “The County saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate their concern for the environment and their commitment to provide citizens with a facility that would be extremely efficient,” stated David Shultz, owner of Shultz & Associates and the project architect.
Recycled and waste stream materials were used whenever possible, including fly ash in all the concrete. In order to reduce impacts related to Urban Heat Island Effects, the structure was built with a white colored roof membrane and concrete was used to parking lots to increase reflectance. Void from a small area near the entrance of the building, all plantings and grasses are low maintenance and native to the area. Other sustainable design features include rain water collection, daylighting, low emission materials, and occupancy controls. All materials were chosen to meet low VOC emission standards, with concrete in the floors and walls guiding this effort.
Recognition from the North Dakota Ready Mix & Concrete Products Association stated, “When the facts are reviewed, we find that very little more could be provided to provide a more Sustainable Design than this project.”
The extensive use of concrete in the project made major contributions to maximizing LEED points. The concrete walls and roof use material diverted from landfills and use locally manufactured aggregate in the concrete mixes. Little waste was created in the construction of this project. The concrete walls have very low air infiltration and thus maximize air quality controls, require low levels of maintenance, have long term durability and aesthetics, provide exceptional strength to survive tornadic winds, and provide some of the best soundproofing.
Shultz & Associates, Ltd. of Fargo is the project architect. David Shultz, firm owner, is a LEED accredited professional. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a national standard for designing and measuring ‘green’ building performance, which are buildings designed to conserve resources, provide healthy indoor environments, and minimize their impact on the environment. LEED Accredited Professionals demonstrate education and expertise in both the process and technical aspects of sustainable design. Shultz & Associates has also been recognized for their commitment to sustainable design with their work on the Otter Tail Country Government Services Center, and is currently working on another LEED project, a new facility for Lakeland Mental Health Center of Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
