Midwest Testing Snags A Silver

St. Louis-based geotechnical, environmental, and materials engineering firm Midwest Testing has achieved Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification for its new headquarters in Overland, MO. The certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was earned through a number of innovations, which reduced operating costs and increased water conservation, both by 30 percent.

Located at 8606 Page Ave., the two-story, 25,000-square-foot facility combines 14,000 square feet of office space with 11,000 square feet of lab and support facilities.

"Our headquarters includes laboratories for testing soil, concrete, asphalt and other foundation materials which have very intense energy and water needs," said Richard Laughlin, president of Midwest Testing. "To meet stringent LEED criteria in a laboratory setting, we had to creatively reduce those costs - a commitment our team embraced with resourcefulness to produce a cleaner and healthier work environment."

Midwest Testing incorporated a number of innovative green design elements and practices, including:

· A "closed loop" mist room for testing concrete strength that conserves water and the energy required for heating/cooling. The innovative design achieves an annual water and sewer discharge savings of 2.5 million gallons annually.

· Advanced mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems that cut building operation costs by 30 percent. It includes low-flow plumbing, high-efficiency lighting and filtered HVAC for better air quality. A reflective, white roof and recycled crushed concrete aggregate pavement in the storage yard mitigates the "heat island" effect of a dark roof and asphalt pavement. The recycled aggregate pavement reduces storm water runoff by allowing precipitation to percolate into the ground.

· A 5,000-gallon cistern to capture rainwater shed from the roof. The water helps irrigate the site, which is populated by plant species native to Missouri. The system significantly reduces domestic water needs for landscaping, resulting in a yearly savings of nearly 100,000 gallons.

· A container for recycling tested concrete, asphalt and masonry materials, which are recycled through Eco-Recycling, located within three miles of Midwest's facility.

· An abundance of 10-foot-tall windows with three grades of glass to flood the interior with natural light, cooling the rays of the sun in summer and maximizing heat gain from the sun in winter.

· Renewable materials, such as bamboo floors, baseboards and doors, and carpet tiles made of recycled tires. Low emissive materials are found throughout the building.

· A bike rack, shower rooms and changing rooms to encourage alternatives to driving a car to work.

Midwest Testing's new facility was designed by Lawrence, Kan.-based Treanor Architects. G. S. S. General Contractors, Inc. managed construction with Stock Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc. serving as civil engineer, Solutions AEC as mechanical engineer and McNealy Engineering, Inc. as structural engineer.

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