Arkansas Support Network is a two-story, 10,000 square foot office building, serving an in-house staff of 20-30 and outside support staff of about 150. The organization determined LEED met their mission and core organization values if it could be done within their financial constraints. Consequently, pursuit of LEED credits were scrutinized for their dollar to building performance benefit with the overriding strategy being to create an environmentally sensitive design solution that produces a healthy and productive workspace. Included in the design are daylight harvesting, use of sustainable materials, natural ventilation, low VOC emission paint and coatings, reduced water consumption, and optimum energy efficient mechanical systems and energy envelope. Even with using a standard variable air volume HVAC system with electric reheat to condition the space, we were able to keep up front costs down and still propose a savings of 20-25% in energy consumption. Contributing significantly to this energy savings is the use of a reflective roof, lighting controls that respond to the amount of daylight in the space, and building orientation. The building structure is structural steel columns, beams, and bar joists. Exterior materials are used brick, standing seam metal roof, glass, and translucent panels. Interior finishes include polished concrete in the lobby, modular carpet, exposed metal deck for ceilings, and movable furniture walls. The project was awarded LEED Certification in February 2008.
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