Hangar 25 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank is one of the first private aviation hangars in the world to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED certification refers to an independent third-party -the USGBC- verifying that a building project meets the highest green building and performance standards.
Design elements of the hangar include: a “cool roof” that reduces heat gain; an energy efficient building envelope; efficient ventilation and air conditioning; locally sourced materials; non-toxic diamond polished concrete floors; and drought tolerant landscaping.
The 60,000 square foot structure, which includes 10,000 square feet of office space, also has a 225kW photovoltaic system on the roof that produces 125 percent of its power needs.
“We were interested in doing something innovative,” said Becca Frucht, analyst for Shangri-La Construction, the company that supervised the hangar’s design and construction. “Building an aviation structure was an opportunity to show that green building can be applied across industries.”
Hangar 25 is one of a growing number of LEED certified buildings in the greater San Fernando Valley area. There are at least ten certified buildings in the Valley and dozens of local projects pursuing certification, according to the USGBC.
Getting LEED certified isn’t easy, according to local building and real estate pros. But the pay-off is that the credential can be used for marketing; more municipalities are veering towards requiring LEED certification; and buildings are more economical to operate.
“There are a growing number of tenants requesting to be in LEED certified buildings,” said Christian Gunter, assistant vice president of responsible property investing for Kennedy Associates Real Estate Advisors, a Seattle-based investment advisor for the owners of Corporate Pointe at West Hills.
Kennedy Associates is pursuing LEED certification for an 11,121 square foot café at the 80-acre Corporate Pointe at West Hills complex. Wolcott Architecture/Interiors is architect on the project, DPR Construction contractor, Trammell Crow Company development manager, and CB Richard Ellis property manager.
The bulk of the extra cost in pursuing LEED happens during the design and planning phases, said Gunter. Ground rules need to be set for how the building will be constructed, waste will be recycled, and materials sourced locally, among other things.
“You can make ‘green’ as expensive as you like,” said Gunter. “But with a good team it’s not that difficult to do.” Kennedy Associates typically obtains LEED certification for less than 1 percent of added cost, he said.
The company obtained its first LEED certification for a building in 2002 and currently has $1 billion worth of certified properties in the U.S. One problem with pursuing certification, however, is it can take months to submit information to the USGBC and obtain the final credential, said Gunter.
