VideoDoi concurs. "At $63 per square foot, the building shell is in the lower half of the $54-$76 range for a campus," she says, "while the interior costs were at the lower end of the $22-$40 range. You don't need to sacrifice efficiency for green."
The South Campus complex incorporates 95 percent recycled materials, based on LEED calculations, including more than 250 miles of reinforced steel reclaimed from Camrys, Corollas, and other recycled automobiles. More than 95 percent of the construction waste — 113 tons in all — was either recycled or reused rather than discarded in landfills. All the wood used in the complex was cut from trees specifically planted for logging. The complex sports one of the largest commercial solar electric systems in North America, covering 53,000 square feet of rooftop. Underground is a special pipeline to supply recycled water to the complex for cooling towers, landscape irrigation, and toilets. Even the buildings' copy rooms have a separate ventilation system from the office space to reduce the drift of toner fumes into work areas.
Smith and his team also made some striking changes to the architectural design of the complex: "We took the stair towers, which typically are located inside a building and are dark and gloomy, and situated them on the outside," he says. "We opened them up with big windows, which encourages workers to use them because, well, because it's cool to use them."
The upshot: South Campus employees use the elevators less often, and they get a cardio boost, to boot.
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