Sustainable Expansions: LEEDers of the Pack

It's hard enough to get the funding for a convention center expansion, build it and then go out and find newer, more and bigger customers than you already have to fill it. So, who would choose to give themselves one more chore by making a venue green?

Phoenix, apparently. When the the second phase of the Phoenix Convention Center's $600 million expansion opens in early 2009, managers hope in short order to have the blessing of the U.S. Green Building Council.

The council is the organization that grants the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification, better known simply as LEED, to buildings approved as sustainable.

In order to attain the certification, the Phoenix center will have to meet a number of criteria:

• whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues, including the use of chemicals
• ongoing indoor air quality
• energy efficiency
• water efficiency
• recycling programs and facilities
• exterior maintenance

The extra trouble, Phoenix officials believe, will be worth it.

"I think it will definitely be an added incentive to groups both small and large that the building is a green building," said Douglas MacKenzie, spokesman for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau.

For convention centers, LEED certification is a distinction that sets them apart. To date, only three existing venues in the United States are LEED-certified: the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., and the Spokane Convention Center in Spokane, Wash., which gained its certification in June.

"I think it does give us an edge right now," said Johnna Boxley, general manager of the Spokane Convention Center. "LEED and green building are hot topics."

But the trend hasn't caught on quickly at other convention centers.

According to the USGBC, only nine centers across the U.S. currently are candidates for the certification. Of those, three — two in Las Vegas and one in Kansas City, Mo. — have said they prefer to remain unidentified. The others, already in existence:

• Austin (Texas) Convention Center,
• Dallas Convention Center,
• Chicago's McCormick Place West and
• Oregon Convention Center (which is pursuing a higher level of certification than it already has).

Those currently under construction:

• Pasadena (Calif.) Convention Center (undergoing an expansion) and
• Raleigh (N.C.) Convention Center.

The project in Phoenix implemented basic recommendations of the USGBC, including the use of construction materials from within a 500-mile radius of the project and recycling paper, plastic, cardboard and glass.

Phoenix and Aventura, the convention center's food and beverage service provider, have put certain measures in place toward sustainability:

• implement a construction waste management program to reduce waste items sent to landfills during the expansion
• recycle and reuse sand and stone material excavated from the construction site in new construction projects throughout Arizona
• install an automated building management system that shuts down systems like lights and air conditioning when the building isn't in use
• use dual-flush toilets to conserve water
• plant native plants in landscaping
• use environmentally sensitive cleaning products
• not pre-set water for meals unless requested
• use locally produced seasonal or organic food, including fair trade coffee, when possible
• donate leftover food to a local food bank when possible

Already, four new groups have booked their events at the Phoenix Convention Center because of the expected LEED certification, including USGBC's Greenbuild Intl. Conference & Expo in 2009, said Tracey Short, assistant manager of the convention center.

"We, like most other centers in the country, have been surprised in the past year by the response in the industry," she added.