THE OMEGA EXAMPLE

Omega Optical’s world headquarters is the first building on The Delta Campus. Omega Optical’s new facility is seeking certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), an organization which sets national standards for minimizing the environmental impacts of buildings. The USGBC, which represents all sectors of the building industry, has established the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification process to encourage sustainable building design.

LEED provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals. Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies and awards points in six major areas including: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in design.

Sustainable Sites

Brownfield Development

Prior to construction the Delta Campus was an auto junkyard, qualifying the land as a “brownfield” site. The cars were removed, the soil tested, and certification given according to stringent environmental standards. The earthwork done to prepare the area for construction meets high standards for stormwater management. A small stream that once passed under the hoods of rusted cars is now a re-established stream bed with wetland flora. The pond in front of the building is not only a pleasant feature of the landscape but is utilized to capture sediment from stormwater before slowly releasing it to the stream. This helps prevent soil loss and sedimentation of other local waterways, which negatively affect aquatic habitats.

Alternative Transportation

To encourage alternative forms of transportation, a bike rack, three parking spaces for recharging electric cars, and three spaces for those who carpool to work are provided. Employees who bike to work or excercise during the day have access to showers on the first floor.

Open Space

LEED requires that open space preservation on a site exceed local requirements by 25% to help ensure that rural areas do not lose their natural habitats or character due to overdevelopment or “sprawl.” The Omega Optical site preserved 82% of its area as open space. Open space includes only natural areas, such as fields and forests, and does not include parking lots or walkways.

Heat Islands

A very light colored limestone, rather than black asphalt, was used to “pave” the parking lot. This feature eliminates the “heat island” effect, which is familiar to everyone who has tried walking barefoot across blacktop on a hot summer day. The heat absorbed and released by a blacktop surface can be tremendous. Some cities experience average summer temperatures that are 10 degrees warmer than the rural areas surrounding them, primarily as a result of heat absorbing road surfaces and buildings. Light colored paving material is used since it reflects large amounts of solar radiation in a way that does not heat the surrounding air. In turn, cooler air on the site saves energy because the building’s air-conditioning system does not have to cool superheated air from the surrounding parking lots.

Light Pollution

The lighting plan for the exterior of the building utilizes low brightness lighting, which minimizes “light pollution” of the night sky. To accomplish this, lower intensity lights are used in greater numbers than would typically be used in a similar sized lot. Also, the fixtures direct the light downward so that only the area where the light is needed is illuminated, cutting down significantly on light pollution. Additionally, the light colored paving stone is a better reflector than blacktop, lowering the amount of light needed to illuminate the area. This is both an energy and safety benefit.

Water Efficiency

Landscaping & Irrigation

The vegetation selected for the landscaping on this site is all native and/or drought tolerant. As a result, there is no need for irrigation since these plants will thrive in the natural environment without the need for extra watering. This leads to huge annual water savings.

Water Technology Domestic

Several innovative water saving technologies have been implemented in the building. All together they add up to an 83% savings in “domestic” (non-industrial) water consumption, compared to a conventional building of the same size.

The bathroom and cafeteria faucets have 1 gallon per minute flow restrictors. Ifo brand Swedish low-flush toilets are set to flush at 1.1 gallons for a full flush and 0.5 gallons for a half flush (with a built-in adjustment), resulting in water savings of 50% as compared with the standard 1.6 gallons per flush toilets sold today in the U.S. The shower heads utilize a sophisticated technology by Bricor, which provides a strong stream at only 1.5 gallons per minute. For comparison, the average low-flow shower runs at about 2.5 gallons per minute.

The building also utilizes a graywater system, which captures 300 gallons of water per day from automated glass washing equipment in the manufacturing process. This water is temporarily collected, stored in a 100 gallon tank, and then pumped to all the toilets in the building. Without this recycling step, the toilets in the facility would have used another 300 gallons per day for flushing.

Manufacturing Water Efficiency

The process of manufacturing optical filters requires the cooling of vacuum chambers while the coatings are being deposited. In the past, water used to cool manufacturing equipment was flushed down the drain following the cooling step. In the new facility a closed cooling system is utilized, in which the cooling water is recycled in a continuous loop to an industrial chiller where it is repeatedly recooled. As a result, while Omega Optical used to be one of the largest consumers of water in Brattleboro, we have reduced our overall water consumption from 18,250 gal/day to 3650 gal/day, or 80%.

Energy and Atmosphere

Building Commissioning

One of the unique requirements for a LEED certified building is to have all the building systems be subject to a commissioning process. In standard construction, equipment such as air conditioners, lights, ventilation systems, and thermostats are installed, turned on, and left to the owner to operate. While this works some of the time, there are usually significant kinks to be worked out. Building commissioning is a process by which all the building’s systems are tested to make sure they perform as designed and to the owner’s specifications. It also establishes a formal training program for staff, supported by a specialized Operations and Maintenance Manual with detailed operating instructions.

High Efficiency Absorption Chiller

An absorption chiller is an integral component of the Omega facility’s HVAC system. It uses a solution of salt – Lithium Bromide – water to make cold water for both air conditioning and the manufacturing process. To do so, hot water circulated to the chiller evaporates the salt water. When the salt water re-condenses, it cools water that is circulated in closed loops throughout the building. Air handlers in turn blow air across cold water coils, circulating cool air. Since the chiller uses a salt solution for the cooling process, there are no CFCs or HCFCs, the common coolants in traditional air conditioning units, which are known to damage the earth’s atmospheric ozone layer.

Lighting Energy Efficiency

A combination of many technologies contribute to the building’s energy efficiency. The interior lighting uses Super T-8 fluorescent lights for the main work areas and LEDs (light emitting diodes) for low occupancy areas such as hallways, bathrooms, and parking lots. Super T-8 fixtures utilize approximately 30% less energy than the more standard T-12 fluorescent lights. The LED fixtures only use about 8 Watts per light, approximately 50% of the power used by a compact fluorescent and 10% of that used by an incandescent bulb. To further save energy and utilize natural daylighting, the third floor offices have photosensitive self-adjusting fluorescent ballasts, which automatically dim according to the ambient light level from the windows.

Insulation

Improving the insulating quality of the building “envelope”, or outer shell, conserves energy. The walls of the three-floor, 32,000 square foot building are made of Stress Skin Insulated Panels (SIPs), supplied by Foard Panel of Chesterfield, NH. The stress-skin walls are constructed with approximately 7 inches of sandwiched foam and have an insulating value of R-28, which is more than twice that of standard wood or steel frame manufacturing buildings. In addition, the Omega building uses double-pane, low emissivity, argon filled windows to keep the cold outside in the winter and inside in the summer. In total these features result in an extraordinarily well insulated building.

Renewable Energy

The building is off the power grid, producing its own electricity through the use of two diesel generators (with the exception of emergency power failures). The generators use a 20% biodiesel mix made from soybeans, a fuel designated as a renewable fuel source under the LEED system.

Photovoltaic panels are used to generate renewable electrical energy from the sun to power the parking lot lighting. This lighting system is serving as a pilot project for the government.

Green Power

To further support the development of renewable energy in the U.S., Omega Optical is participating in a Green Power program in which the company estimates its electricity usage and then purchases a two-year contract for this consumption rate from a U.S. based renewable energy producer. The proceeds from the contract go toward supporting wind-farm development in the U.S.

Materials and Resources

Recycling Program

Having easily accessible collection sites for a variety of recyclable materials is essential for environmentally sustainable operation of buildings. Omega Optical has established collection sites on each of its three floors for five different materials: Paper, Glass, Metal, Plastic, and Corrugated Cardboard. This collective effort by all the employees contributes significantly to conservation of energy and materials. As a result of workplace programs such as this, as well as policies, regulations, and education, the nation's overall recycling rate has grown from 11% to 27% in the past 10 years.

Construction Waste Management

During construction, more than 50% of the waste produced was diverted from the landfill toward more productive uses through a number of innovative practices. Similar to recycling at home, different types of materials were separated. For example, “clean” wood was collected and offered to employees and members of the community. In addition, all construction vendors had to operate according to a specified recycling program.

Recycled Content in Building Materials

On the other end of the materials cycle, new materials manufactured from recycled content were chosen where possible. The ceiling tiles from Armstrong contain 50% post-consumer recycled content, the nylon face of the carpeting is 50% recycled content, the structural steel beams are made from 97% recycled steel (mostly automotive), and the ceiling insulation contains 80% recycled newspapers. Using materials made from recycled content, much as participation in solid waste recycling collection programs, can make a substantial contribution to saving resources and energy.

Local and Regional Materials

The LEED standard requires that more than 20% of the materials used in a building be manufactured within a 500 mile radius of the construction site. This requirement minimizes the transportation of materials across long distances, saving energy, reducing pollution, and supporting the regional economy. In this building, the Stress Skin Insulated Panels were manufactured by Foard Panel, a local company located just a few miles away in Chesterfield, NH. Similarly, the roof trusses were manufactured regionally. In addition, a large percentage of the exterior wood siding, interior wood paneling and trim, as well as some of the wooden office furniture was made using wood milled from trees cut on site during construction.

Indoor Environmental Quality

Air Quality

The LEED certification process requires that all buildings meet the standards for fresh air ventilation prescribed by ASHRAE 62 – American Society for Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc. As a high-tech industrial facility, other standards must be met as well, including ACGIH’s – American Council of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists – Recommended Practice for Industrial Ventilation, in addition to OSHA, VOSHA, and the EPA’s guidelines for air quality and exposure to substances. The building’s ventilation systems were designed to meet all of these standards so that employees experience a high level of air quality.

Environmental Tobacco Smoke

There is no smoking permitted inside the building.

Low Emitting Construction Materials

Low emitting materials were used in the construction process to minimize the off-gassing of toxic chemicals common in many new construction projects and responsible for “sick building” syndrome. Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, are the most common types of substances released into new buildings during an initial period. Some low-emitting materials incorporated into the Omega facility include zero VOC paints and primers, carpeting and carpet adhesive certified as safe by the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Indoor Air Quality Test Program requirements, and all composite wood materials, such as structural beams and sheathing, which are made from adhesives without urea formaldehyde.

Daylight and Views

90% of the spaces, other than manufacturing, in the Omega building have access to windows. Daylight in work spaces as opposed to artificial light is also important. Studies have shown that people are more productive when their workspace is lighted with sunlight, rather than artificial light. Windows also help provide a connection to the outdoors for employees so that they don’t feel isolated from the natural environment.

Innovative Design

Overview

The LEED certification system also awards up to 4 points for Innovation in Design. Omega is seeking all four points, each one for a different type of novel construction approach implemented on site.

Lighting with LEDs – 30% of the lighting in the building is comprised of light emitting diodes. This new technology is not common in the construction of new buildings.

Onsite Sustainable Harvesting of Wood – All interior and exterior wood siding, paneling, and trim was harvested from trees on site. This effort supports local sustainable forestry in a state with both a healthy wood products industry and conservation policies.

Industrial Cooling Water Recycled – By recycling the water used in manufacturing processes in a closed loop, this facility has cut down on water consumption approximately 80%. Omega Optical used to be the largest consumer of water in the town of Brattleboro.

Green Power Contract – By purchasing a second green power contract from a renewable energy producer in the U.S., Omega Optical has demonstrated its commitment and support of alternative energy resources.


HOME DEVELOPMENT PLAN LOTS FOR SALE DIRECTIONS CONTACT US PRINCIPALS CASE STUDY GREEN-BUILT HOMES NEWS LINKS	THE OMEGA EXAMPLE Omega Optical’s world headquarters is the first building on The Delta Campus. Omega Optical’s new facility is seeking certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), an organization which sets national standards for minimizing the environmental impacts of buildings. The USGBC, which represents all sectors of the building industry, has established the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification process to encourage sustainable building design. LEED provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals. Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies and awards points in six major areas including: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in design. Sustainable Sites Brownfield Development Prior to construction the Delta Campus was an auto junkyard, qualifying the land as a “brownfield” site. The cars were removed, the soil tested, and certification given according to stringent environmental standards. The earthwork done to prepare the area for construction meets high standards for stormwater management. A small stream that once passed under the hoods of rusted cars is now a re-established stream bed with wetland flora. The pond in front of the building is not only a pleasant feature of the landscape but is utilized to capture sediment from stormwater before slowly releasing it to the stream. This helps prevent soil loss and sedimentation of other local waterways, which negatively affect aquatic habitats. Alternative Transportation To encourage alternative forms of transportation, a bike rack, three parking spaces for recharging electric cars, and three spaces for those who carpool to work are provided. Employees who bike to work or excercise during the day have access to showers on the first floor. Open Space LEED requires that open space preservation on a site exceed local requirements by 25% to help ensure that rural areas do not lose their natural habitats or character due to overdevelopment or “sprawl.” The Omega Optical site preserved 82% of its area as open space. Open space includes only natural areas, such as fields and forests, and does not include parking lots or walkways. Heat Islands A very light colored limestone, rather than black asphalt, was used to “pave” the parking lot. This feature eliminates the “heat island” effect, which is familiar to everyone who has tried walking barefoot across blacktop on a hot summer day. The heat absorbed and released by a blacktop surface can be tremendous. Some cities experience average summer temperatures that are 10 degrees warmer than the rural areas surrounding them, primarily as a result of heat absorbing road surfaces and buildings. Light colored paving material is used since it reflects large amounts of solar radiation in a way that does not heat the surrounding air. In turn, cooler air on the site saves energy because the building’s air-conditioning system does not have to cool superheated air from the surrounding parking lots. Light Pollution The lighting plan for the exterior of the building utilizes low brightness lighting, which minimizes “light pollution” of the night sky. To accomplish this, lower intensity lights are used in greater numbers than would typically be used in a similar sized lot. Also, the fixtures direct the light downward so that only the area where the light is needed is illuminated, cutting down significantly on light pollution. Additionally, the light colored paving stone is a better reflector than blacktop, lowering the amount of light needed to illuminate the area. This is both an energy and safety benefit. Water Efficiency Landscaping & Irrigation The vegetation selected for the landscaping on this site is all native and/or drought tolerant. As a result, there is no need for irrigation since these plants will thrive in the natural environment without the need for extra watering. This leads to huge annual water savings. Water Technology Domestic Several innovative water saving technologies have been implemented in the building. All together they add up to an 83% savings in “domestic” (non-industrial) water consumption, compared to a conventional building of the same size. The bathroom and cafeteria faucets have 1 gallon per minute flow restrictors. Ifo brand Swedish low-flush toilets are set to flush at 1.1 gallons for a full flush and 0.5 gallons for a half flush (with a built-in adjustment), resulting in water savings of 50% as compared with the standard 1.6 gallons per flush toilets sold today in the U.S. The shower heads utilize a sophisticated technology by Bricor, which provides a strong stream at only 1.5 gallons per minute. For comparison, the average low-flow shower runs at about 2.5 gallons per minute. The building also utilizes a graywater system, which captures 300 gallons of water per day from automated glass washing equipment in the manufacturing process. This water is temporarily collected, stored in a 100 gallon tank, and then pumped to all the toilets in the building. Without this recycling step, the toilets in the facility would have used another 300 gallons per day for flushing. Manufacturing Water Efficiency The process of manufacturing optical filters requires the cooling of vacuum chambers while the coatings are being deposited. In the past, water used to cool manufacturing equipment was flushed down the drain following the cooling step. In the new facility a closed cooling system is utilized, in which the cooling water is recycled in a continuous loop to an industrial chiller where it is repeatedly recooled. As a result, while Omega Optical used to be one of the largest consumers of water in Brattleboro, we have reduced our overall water consumption from 18,250 gal/day to 3650 gal/day, or 80%. Energy and Atmosphere Building Commissioning One of the unique requirements for a LEED certified building is to have all the building systems be subject to a commissioning process. In standard construction, equipment such as air conditioners, lights, ventilation systems, and thermostats are installed, turned on, and left to the owner to operate. While this works some of the time, there are usually significant kinks to be worked out. Building commissioning is a process by which all the building’s systems are tested to make sure they perform as designed and to the owner’s specifications. It also establishes a formal training program for staff, supported by a specialized Operations and Maintenance Manual with detailed operating instructions. High Efficiency Absorption Chiller An absorption chiller is an integral component of the Omega facility’s HVAC system. It uses a solution of salt – Lithium Bromide – water to make cold water for both air conditioning and the manufacturing process. To do so, hot water circulated to the chiller evaporates the salt water. When the salt water re-condenses, it cools water that is circulated in closed loops throughout the building. Air handlers in turn blow air across cold water coils, circulating cool air. Since the chiller uses a salt solution for the cooling process, there are no CFCs or HCFCs, the common coolants in traditional air conditioning units, which are known to damage the earth’s atmospheric ozone layer. Lighting Energy Efficiency A combination of many technologies contribute to the building’s energy efficiency. The interior lighting uses Super T-8 fluorescent lights for the main work areas and LEDs (light emitting diodes) for low occupancy areas such as hallways, bathrooms, and parking lots. Super T-8 fixtures utilize approximately 30% less energy than the more standard T-12 fluorescent lights. The LED fixtures only use about 8 Watts per light, approximately 50% of the power used by a compact fluorescent and 10% of that used by an incandescent bulb. To further save energy and utilize natural daylighting, the third floor offices have photosensitive self-adjusting fluorescent ballasts, which automatically dim according to the ambient light level from the windows. Insulation Improving the insulating quality of the building “envelope”, or outer shell, conserves energy. The walls of the three-floor, 32,000 square foot building are made of Stress Skin Insulated Panels (SIPs), supplied by Foard Panel of Chesterfield, NH. The stress-skin walls are constructed with approximately 7 inches of sandwiched foam and have an insulating value of R-28, which is more than twice that of standard wood or steel frame manufacturing buildings. In addition, the Omega building uses double-pane, low emissivity, argon filled windows to keep the cold outside in the winter and inside in the summer. In total these features result in an extraordinarily well insulated building. Renewable Energy The building is off the power grid, producing its own electricity through the use of two diesel generators (with the exception of emergency power failures). The generators use a 20% biodiesel mix made from soybeans, a fuel designated as a renewable fuel source under the LEED system. Photovoltaic panels are used to generate renewable electrical energy from the sun to power the parking lot lighting. This lighting system is serving as a pilot project for the government. Green Power To further support the development of renewable energy in the U.S., Omega Optical is participating in a Green Power program in which the company estimates its electricity usage and then purchases a two-year contract for this consumption rate from a U.S. based renewable energy producer. The proceeds from the contract go toward supporting wind-farm development in the U.S. Materials and Resources Recycling Program Having easily accessible collection sites for a variety of recyclable materials is essential for environmentally sustainable operation of buildings. Omega Optical has established collection sites on each of its three floors for five different materials: Paper, Glass, Metal, Plastic, and Corrugated Cardboard. This collective effort by all the employees contributes significantly to conservation of energy and materials. As a result of workplace programs such as this, as well as policies, regulations, and education, the nation's overall recycling rate has grown from 11% to 27% in the past 10 years. Construction Waste Management During construction, more than 50% of the waste produced was diverted from the landfill toward more productive uses through a number of innovative practices. Similar to recycling at home, different types of materials were separated. For example, “clean” wood was collected and offered to employees and members of the community. In addition, all construction vendors had to operate according to a specified recycling program. Recycled Content in Building Materials On the other end of the materials cycle, new materials manufactured from recycled content were chosen where possible. The ceiling tiles from Armstrong contain 50% post-consumer recycled content, the nylon face of the carpeting is 50% recycled content, the structural steel beams are made from 97% recycled steel (mostly automotive), and the ceiling insulation contains 80% recycled newspapers. Using materials made from recycled content, much as participation in solid waste recycling collection programs, can make a substantial contribution to saving resources and energy. Local and Regional Materials The LEED standard requires that more than 20% of the materials used in a building be manufactured within a 500 mile radius of the construction site. This requirement minimizes the transportation of materials across long distances, saving energy, reducing pollution, and supporting the regional economy. In this building, the Stress Skin Insulated Panels were manufactured by Foard Panel, a local company located just a few miles away in Chesterfield, NH. Similarly, the roof trusses were manufactured regionally. In addition, a large percentage of the exterior wood siding, interior wood paneling and trim, as well as some of the wooden office furniture was made using wood milled from trees cut on site during construction. Indoor Environmental Quality Air Quality The LEED certification process requires that all buildings meet the standards for fresh air ventilation prescribed by ASHRAE 62 – American Society for Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc. As a high-tech industrial facility, other standards must be met as well, including ACGIH’s – American Council of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists – Recommended Practice for Industrial Ventilation, in addition to OSHA, VOSHA, and the EPA’s guidelines for air quality and exposure to substances. The building’s ventilation systems were designed to meet all of these standards so that employees experience a high level of air quality. Environmental Tobacco Smoke There is no smoking permitted inside the building. Low Emitting Construction Materials Low emitting materials were used in the construction process to minimize the off-gassing of toxic chemicals common in many new construction projects and responsible for “sick building” syndrome. Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, are the most common types of substances released into new buildings during an initial period. Some low-emitting materials incorporated into the Omega facility include zero VOC paints and primers, carpeting and carpet adhesive certified as safe by the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Indoor Air Quality Test Program requirements, and all composite wood materials, such as structural beams and sheathing, which are made from adhesives without urea formaldehyde. Daylight and Views 90% of the spaces, other than manufacturing, in the Omega building have access to windows. Daylight in work spaces as opposed to artificial light is also important. Studies have shown that people are more productive when their workspace is lighted with sunlight, rather than artificial light. Windows also help provide a connection to the outdoors for employees so that they don’t feel isolated from the natural environment. Innovative Design Overview The LEED certification system also awards up to 4 points for Innovation in Design. Omega is seeking all four points, each one for a different type of novel construction approach implemented on site. Lighting with LEDs – 30% of the lighting in the building is comprised of light emitting diodes. This new technology is not common in the construction of new buildings. Onsite Sustainable Harvesting of Wood – All interior and exterior wood siding, paneling, and trim was harvested from trees on site. This effort supports local sustainable forestry in a state with both a healthy wood products industry and conservation policies. Industrial Cooling Water Recycled – By recycling the water used in manufacturing processes in a closed loop, this facility has cut down on water consumption approximately 80%. Omega Optical used to be the largest consumer of water in the town of Brattleboro. Green Power Contract – By purchasing a second green power contract from a renewable energy producer in the U.S., Omega Optical has demonstrated its commitment and support of alternative energy resources.