Talking the Talk or Walking the Walk?
Sustainable Building in
Hawaii’s Public and Commercial/Retail Sectors

Koga Engineering & Construction, Inc.’s Komohana Heights large
cesspool replacement project for Hawaii County

By Lee Schaller
Green Building. Sustainable Building. LEED.
These have become buzzwords locally as well as nationally.
How well is Hawaii doing in these areas as related to public and commercial/retail projects? Are we, as some national reports proclaim, “lagging behind” in sustainable and LEED-certified projects? Or are we progressing on target, with key decision-makers displaying commitment to being more sustainable in these vital sectors?
We asked. They (and you) answered.

How Do We Rate

Let’s first look at basic facts, questions and numbers in Hawaii’s overall sustainable building picture.
“There are over 100 LEED and other green building projects in the state of Hawaii!” says Gail Suzuki-Jones of DBEDT’s (Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism) Strategic Industries Division.
Jason Wanstrath, LEED AP (accredited professional), president of the Hawaii chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and senior project manager, Pankow Special Projects LP, underscores what Suzuki-Jones reports, telling us, “There are 25 LEED-certified projects in Hawaii currently with another 216 registered with LEED. While this may seem like a small number, especially when compared with the top states for LEED-certified projects, we are doing well when you take into account the population and volume of construction per state. For example, California has the most LEED-certified projects at 720, however, if you look at California’s population of 39.6 million, you see that they have 19.5 LEED-certified projects per capita. Texas, with the second highest number of LEED-certified projects at 255 and a population of 24.7 million, equates to 10.29 LEED projects per capita. So when you consider that Hawaii has a population of only 1.3 million, we have been able to certify 19.3 projects per capita. This is very close to the national average of 20.93 for the top 10 states on a per capita basis.” (And, we might add, higher than six of the 10 top states when evaluated on a per capita basis.)

Phillip Camp, AIA, LEED AP, principal of Hawaii Architecture LLP, feels there has been an increase in sustainable design and building. “There is a definite upsurge of attention,” he says, “people are buying into it wholeheartedly.” He also says Hawaii could be considered a leader in some areas. “We have had architects here who were far ahead of their time — Ossipoff, for example, with his sustainable design and energy conservation.” (Editor’s note: Vladimir Ossipoff, hailed as the “master of Hawaii modern architecture,” recognized the need for energy-efficient sustainable design as early as the 1960s.)
Lance Wilhelm, president of the Hawaii Developers’ Council and senior vice president of Kiewit Building Group, tells us, “From an industry standpoint, I believe we are making good progress in building greener, more environmentally sensitive projects. ‘Sustainability’ and ‘green building’ are now part of every discussion as we prepare to build new facilities in our community. It was just a few years back that LEED was not well understood, much less embraced as a standard practice in the industry. While the decision to ‘go LEED’ is still one that is debated, we are incorporating more of these green practices into all of our projects. As to whether we are keeping pace with the mainland when it comes to LEED certification, I try to remind people that LEED standards were not created with Hawaii in mind. Consequently, our local projects sometimes can be challenged to come up with all the points that a similarly designed project might easily achieve on the mainland.”

Among Kiewit’s public sector projects is the Wheeler unaccompanied enlisted personnel housing (UEPH) barracks, phase 6B, a $44.5 million design-build project with the Army Corps of Engineers at Wheeler Army Airfield. It is being designed with sustainable features including low-flow water fixtures, 10 percent recycled content in construction materials and Energy Star appliances. In addition, care is being taken to ensure a balance between achieving energy efficiency while preserving the architectural character of the historical area. Kiewit also is working on the Pearl Harbor fitness center, a $24.3 million design-build project with NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering Command) Hawaii, which is striving for minimum LEED silver rating for its many sustainable features.

Setting the Trend

As Camp points out, there has been an upsurge of attention to sustainable building, but there are industry members who long before “green building” and “LEED” became jobsite, if not household words, were at the forefront of sustainable development and building.

Among these companies is Swinerton Builders. In 2009, Swinerton Builders-Hawaii was the first general contractor in the state to receive a Green Business Program Award from DBEDT and the state Department of Health (DOH) in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. The awards are presented to businesses and government entities that have developed and implemented environmental practices into their operations. “In Hawaii, we have 20 LEED APs on staff,” George Ehara, vice president and general manager of Swinerton Builders-Hawaii, tells us. “The majority of our estimating staff and our project management engineering staff are LEED APs.” As to sustainable projects, “UH Frear Hall, the Hilton Waikoloa Dolphin Quest, the Monsanto Seed Facility, and the PJKK (Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole) Federal Courthouse renovation all are certified LEED silver or are awaiting certification — over $160 million of green building. On many of these projects we encouraged the client to pursue LEED certification initially or to pursue the next level of LEED certification. As a general contractor, we don’t just follow ‘green’ specs; we have done energy modeling, LEED online administrations and enhanced commissioning for our clients in pursuit of LEED certification.”

Jeffrey Good, project engineer for Swinerton, adds, “The PJKK Federal Courthouse will be one of the first buildings in the state to feature a comprehensive energy use monitoring system combining both DDC and electrical metering into a single, campus-wide system.” In the commercial/retail area, Swinerton is performing the demolition work at Schuman Carriage’s old site for the relocation of Safeway’s Beretania Street store. The elevated “podium” store will be double the size of the former store. (Editor’s note: Our Spotlight on Success feature in this issue highlights Swinerton’s Waikiki Shopping Plaza project, also pursuing LEED certification.)

Another industry company that has been at the forefront of green building is Pankow. Leslie Miasnik, business development manager for Pankow in Hawaii, points out, “Firm-wide, Pankow is dedicated to the initiation, development and implementation of green building concepts, technologies and principles. With over 70 professionals trained and accredited in the LEED national standards, including almost half of the Hawaii office employees, our company is committed to environmentally responsible construction. Even in tenant improvement projects, early involvement of a knowledgeable contractor is key to determining the best-value design strategy for achieving green goals or LEED certification.”

Green Sand Inc. Architecture + Sustainability is a Hawaii-based company heavily focused on sustainable design and LEED strategies. Company principals Matthew and Rhonda Goyke stress their commitment to “high-performance, energy-efficient and healthy buildings.” Rhonda, past chair of the Hawaii chapter of USGBC, says, “I have seen a marked change in awareness, attitude and interest over the last two years. (Yes) Hawaii is adopting third-party green building programs such as LEED more slowly than other states — there was a bit of ‘let’s wait and see what happens on the mainland’ attitude. (However) I hope that attitude actually will serve Hawaii well and we will more easily implement what other states have developed, taking the best from other places that will work for our island state.”

Mike Reeves, vice president and founder of Green Builder’s Depot, reports, “For a variety of reasons, including a growing awareness of green building and LEED certification in the commercial development sector, we have seen increased interest in our products. At Green Builder’s Depot, we are dedicated to providing Hawaii’s contractors and commercial developers with high performance products and sustainable solutions — the highest quality, certified green products available that also will help meet LEED certification requirements for their developments.”

Help From the Top?

We asked those we spoke with how dedicated city and county and state leaders are to moving public projects forward.

“During this down time the government projects have been extremely important in helping us provide work for our people,” says Glenn Nohara, president of Koga Engineering & Construction, Inc. “For the first half of the year, the counties and the state have been putting out a tremendous amount of work, although this has tailed off substantially since the end of July. In any event, we were fortunate that we were able to pick up 10 city and state projects during this period.”

Kyle Sakaitani, vice president of Big Island operations for Koga, speaks of a recently completed public works job, the Komohana Heights large cesspool replacement project in Hilo for the County of Hawaii. The replacement project was in response to federal EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requirements to shut down large capacity cesspools in order to protect Hawaii’s waters. “The Komohana Heights large capacity cesspool project is a great example of what can be accomplished when the government agency, the contractor and the neighborhood all work together harmoniously.”

Kiewit’s Wilhelm says, “I believe that both state and county governments are trying to move projects out in order to stimulate economic activity. The federal government likewise is moving forward on some major projects on many of their facilities. While it is possible to keep contractors working on numerous small projects, there is a kind of economic impact that only large civil works projects such as the Honolulu light rail can create. Part of the reason larger projects have positive effects on the economy is that their breadth, scope and schedule tend to touch many more businesses in the community and provide the kind of long-term earning potential that gives small business owners the confidence to make investments in their businesses and hire more workers.”

Swinerton’s Jeffrey Good, says, “While sustainable building practices are definitely behind the curve in Hawaii, things are catching up. The City & County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) is considering ‘front of the line’ permitting priority for projects seeking LEED certification and/or implementing sustainable building features that specifically address Hawaii’s environmental challenges.” (The proposed plan has been under discussion for approximately two years and still is being debated.) “The local USGBC is heavily involved in lobbying for expedited permits,” says Good, “as this practice now is commonplace in many mainland municipalities.

Mandates, Orders and Outcome

We asked about government mandates (some fairly recent) encompassing sustainable building and how they are impacting the industry, the economy and the environment.

“Some of the first executive orders issued by this administration require federal agencies to set sustainability goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by federal agencies,” Ehara explains. “Some agencies are setting goals that target net-zero energy consumption in new buildings. This is changing the way the federal government procures design and construction services. As a contractor active in the federal arena, we have prepared ourselves to compete and win projects that have aggressive sustainability goals requiring active participation by the general contractor.” As to positive action by local government, he says, “The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) was a good start. Due to our limited resources and high cost of energy, Hawaii has the opportunity to model what a sustainable future could look like for the rest of the country. The ambitious goals of the HCEI have yet to result in incentives for our industry such as expedited permitting for green projects at the city and county level. If the uncertainty of the entitlement process was reduced, you would see a lot more sustainable developments in Hawaii.”

“Both military construction and that of the federal, state and local government, with LEED mandates for new construction projects, have helped move the market for more green building in Hawaii,” says DBEDT’s Suzuki-Jones.

“State and local governments were early pioneers of LEED,” says USGBC Hawaii’s Jason Wanstrath, “incorporating LEED into tax codes and offering incentives for private industry to achieve LEED certification. In that same vein, municipal buildings equally have been using LEED as most states and many cities now require all new construction to achieve a minimum of LEED silver. The federal government also has led in this area, requiring all new federal construction be LEED silver or the equivalent. Through the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) stimulus funds, the federal government also has allocated money for green projects.”

Public Determination

“We are LEED certified and members of the Green Building Council,” says Dan Jordan, principal, Honolulu Builders LLC, “and have worked on numerous projects in the private sector that have sought to implement green building technologies. At the end of the day however, when budget and performance collide, most projects were forced to value engineer to a point that LEED certification was not obtainable. Honolulu Builders’ experience to date is that only the public sector has managed to keep green building technologies within the project scope and we are just beginning to partake of many of these projects, namely the University of Hawaii at Manoa Campus Center; renovations to Hale Aloha at Hawaii Community College, Hilo and the Keeau Middle School new classroom building. It appears that the public sector will remain at the forefront of green building technology until it gradually trickles down into the private sector areas where it will create an economic payback — or when it is eventually legislated. This will, in the short term, increase the cost of construction but eventually will become the norm as our industry’s mindset adjusts to the new requirements.”

Hawaii Architecture’s Camp also feels that public projects are uniquely well suited to green building. “With city and county, state and federal projects,” he points out, lifestyle costs are important. In the private sector, a developer or owner may create a project but not be involved with it over the long term. But government entities create and maintain their projects for a long, long time, so for this sector it makes good economic sense to reduce lifecycle costs — water heating, lighting, air conditioning. It may cost more up front but really pays off in the long run.”

Hawaii Architecture’s recent and current sustainable projects include architect of record on a DAGS (Department of Accounting and General Services) project involving the photovoltaic (PV) reroofing of Kauai libraries. The locally based company also recently completed the complete renovation of the main ground floor unit of the historic Dillingham Transportation Building, a commercial renovation project that is on track to receive LEED-platinum certification. The client, Hauoli Mau Loa Foundation, plans on an office opening once LEED certification is completed.

Allan Lock, vice president of marketing, preconstruction and estimating for Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., Inc. tells us, “Our Child Development Center project at Pearl Harbor is scheduled to be LEED silver and could end up platinum. The UEPH Schofield Barracks project we just started will be LEED silver and could be gold. And we’ve just been awarded the JTMC (Joint Traffic Management Center) by the city and that will be LEED.” The entire JTMC, which will house multiple agencies, is expected to cost more than $100 million with the city and Federal Transit Administration splitting the cost.

It’s Official

“In an economy where private sector construction became virtually nonexistent,” Craig Nishimura, PE, director of the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) for the City and County of Honolulu, tells us in his in-depth overview, “the city administration quickly realized the importance of its capital improvements program (CIP) to sustain the construction industry. As the industry awaits the start of the transit project, DDC has been attempting to sustain construction by executing the CIP programs and providing job opportunities through our construction projects.

“From the beginning of 2009, the department has advertised and awarded 143 contracts worth $238.4 million. With former Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s emphasis on infrastructure work, we awarded 14 wastewater projects worth $82.1 million and 16 road rehabilitation projects worth $82.6 million, which is part of the city’s previously announced $150 million roadwork commitment.

“The recently announced wastewater consent decree settlement with the EPA is anticipated to generate an estimated $3.5 billion in construction projects over the next 10 years, with secondary treatment facilities to follow at the Sand Island and Honouliuli wastewater treatment plants.

“The upcoming year’s construction effort is estimated at $681 million. Projects include not only wastewater and roadwork but also corporation yard, public safety and recreational facilities projects. We also have begun addressing sustainability issues and LEED requirements. The Ewa Beach Fire Station project has been submitted for LEED certification and the new (but not scheduled for construction in this calendar year) Waianae Police Station is being designed to meet LEED silver requirements.

“The city also is embarking on its own energy savings program, evaluating our existing facilities for opportunities to provide energy savings upgrades.”

At the state level, $1.8 billion was advanced earlier this year in CIP projects “as part of a comprehensive effort to stimulate the economy and create jobs.” State Comptroller Russ Saito says, “The state will continue its focus on starting approved CIP projects as quickly as possible in order to create more jobs for members of our construction industry and related sectors.”

To view CIP projects, go to the DAGS web site and follow the links.

From the desire for energy savings to just being “the right thing to do,” green/sustainable building in Hawaii’s public and commercial/retail sectors is increasing. Local government decision-makers seem to be more committed to advancing the projects — but the need to prioritize these projects in the permitting process is vital.
Overall, Hawaii has the potential to become a true model of sustainability — with a little help from our friends at the top.

Alcal Hawaii
Aloha Cargo Transport
Aloha Marketing
Beachside Roofing
Blaze Masters Fire Protection, LLC
Carrier Hawaii
Cement & Concrete Products Industry of Hawaii
City Mill
Clean Sewer Lines Hawaii
Commercial Shelving, Inc.
Cycle City Ltd.
Dorvin D. Leis Co., Inc.
Earthworks Pacific Inc.
Geotech Solutions, Inc.
Goodfellow Bros., Inc.
GW Killebrew
Hawaii Finishing Alliance
Haw’n Rock Products Corp.
Hawthorne
Hawaii Lumber Products Association
Honsador Lumber
HPM Building Supply
International Code Council
Isla Paint & Roof Supply
JBL Hawaii, Ltd.
JD Painting Hawaii
Kiewit Infrastructure West Co.
Kikiaola Construction/Structure Movers Hawaii
Kila Manufacturing, LLC.
Lenox Metals, LLC
Pella Windows & Doors
Project Transport
R&D Technologies, Inc.
Revolusun
RMA Sales
Rocky Mountain Precast
Royal Pacific Industries
Service Rental & Supplies, Inc.
Creative Partition Systems
Swinerton Builders
Tileco Inc.
Truss Systems Hawaii
Tsang Brothers Corporation
Unlimited Construction Services