Steelcase was First to LEED in Manufacturing

How did they do it?

Steelcase achieved LEED certification by implementing strategies under five LEED categories—energy and atmosphere, indoor environmental quality, sustainable sites, water efficiency, and materials and resources, as described below.

This included converting the facility's finishing lines to water-based finishing, which reduced VOC emissions, and installing a Johnson Controls Metasys building management air monitoring system.

One of Steelcase’s Core Values.

Protecting the environment is of great importance to Steelcase, and one of the company's core values. When the world’s largest office furniture manufacturer was preparing its new 13.8-acre wood finishing division plant, located on 62 acres in Caledonia, Mich., which was designed by William McDonough + Partners, it was the first project of its type and size to be rated by LEED.

The project provided the perfect opportunity for the company to not only address space constraints but also to incorporate its environmentally friendly mission.

The wood finishing plant achieved U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) way back in 2001— up to that point, the LEED program did not have a method for manufacturing facilities to be certified.

“We had some initial concerns on whether we could even achieve a LEED certification since the program was really written around commercial office buildings,” said Steelcase Director of Global Environmental Performance Dave Rinard.

USGBC worked with Steelcase to adapt the program to become more germane to a manufacturing plant.

The plant accumulated 33 points to achieve LEED silver certification. It did so by implementing the following strategies under five LEED categories—energy and atmosphere, indoor environmental quality, sustainable sites, water efficiency, and materials and resources:

Indoor environmental quality

• Converted to water-based finishing lines that reduced VOC emissions by as much as 70 percent.
• Implemented an indoor air quality (IAQ) management, including installing a Johnson Controls Metasys building management permanent air monitoring system, the installation of intake fans.

Sustainable sites

• Reduced heat island effect by planting 958 trees to shade impervious surfaces.
• Reduced habitat disturbance by setting aside more than 30 acres of prairie grass, low maintenance grass and ponds.
• Restored site by reusing topsoil and planting native trees and plants.
• Provided alternative transportation and fuels by constructing bicycle lock-up areas, showers, and electric refueling stations.

Water efficiency

• Installed low-flow fixtures that use 34 percent less water
• Installed new cooling tower that reduces drift and evaporation
• Water Recovery: Installed roof and groundwater collection system for water recovery that provides 10 percent of landscape irrigation needs

Energy and atmosphere

• Installed energy-efficient lighting that meets California’s Title 24 lighting requirements
• Implemented a waste heat recovery system that captures 88 percent of waste heat which is redistributed as building heat
• Used all low-VOC or water-based paints, sealants, primers and pipe joints in the building’s construction

Materials and resources

• Used recycled structural steel produced locally
• Eliminated CFCs, CFs, and halons by substituting refrigerant 134A in the chiller. These pollutants were also eliminated from fire suppression system, insulation, adhesives, carpet tiles and other cooling systems
• Established a recycling rate of 75 percent

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This article was republished with permission by the Sustainable Manufacturer Network, an affiliate of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International®, which owns the copyright. Reprinting is prohibited unless permission is expressly granted.