Ryan Finds Gold in Building Green

Company's Towers at Bressi Park industrial/office complex set to achieve LEED certification.

By David Silva

For Ryan Cos.' U.S. division manager Robbie Knight, building one of Carlsbad's first officially "green" industrial/office complexes wasn't just about being a good steward of the environment. It also made economic sense.

The San Diego-based company recently broke ground on The Towers at Bressi Ranch, a 21-acre development of industrial/flex and standalone office condominiums within the Bressi Ranch Corporate Center at Innovation Way and Palomar Airport Road. But the $17.6 million project is already poised to achieve Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Council for its environmentally friendly, energy-efficient design.

"It's interesting how many people will tell you how much more expensive building a LEED project is," Knight said. "I'm here to tell you we're actually saving money by going LEED. It's not costing us more - it's costing us less. I think you'll start to hear that from developers more and more."

According to Knight and Ryan Vice President of Development Matthew Reid, building green reduces the cost of construction because it requires smaller air-conditioning systems and smaller water meters purchased from the host city. Further savings are realized through financial incentives from energy utilities. Moreover, energy-efficient buildings are growing increasingly attractive to companies presently based in colder regions - and the majority of Ryan's clients are located in the Midwest.

"California leads the country right now by a two-to-one ratio in terms of building LEED product," Reid said.

The Towers at Bressi Ranch will be built in two phases, the first bringing about 160,000 sq. ft. of industrial/flex and office space online in mid-2007, and the second, comprising about 120,000 sq. ft., by the first quarter of 2009. Units will range in size from 1,500 to 5,000 sq. ft., and will be priced from about $600,000 to $1.7 million.

Ryan Cos. is both developer and builder of the project. Smith Consulting Architects of San Diego is the architect.

According to Smith project architect Brian Drache, achieving LEED accreditation became a much more daunting challenge when new regulations under California's Title 24 energy-efficiency guidelines took effect in October 2005.

"LEED requires you to be efficient beyond minimal state guidelines," Drache said. "What we're finding is that Title 24 is so much more efficient that it's harder to get extra points with LEED. (But) I think the U.S. Green Building Council is on the right course. They should set it up so that obtaining extra LEED points requires being more efficient than local standards."

Under the LEED accreditation system, buildings are scored under a five-category system, with points awarded for site sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. An optional sixth category for innovation and design process can add a maximum of five points to the total. Buildings must achieve a minimum of 26 points for basic LEED certification.

Smith and Ryan overcame California's Title 24 obstacle through the use of dual-pane windows and high-performance doors, as well as energy-efficient filtration and air-conditioning systems and water-conservation techniques.

Because concrete tilt-up was the dominant material for The Towers, Smith employed neutral colors - mostly varying shades of tan - throughout the complex.

"We used green glass to get a really good harmony between the two colors," Drache said. "It's almost like a tree color, achieving very warm tones. We went with champagne gold for the window trim and some of the trim elements around the building. The color for the pre-finished elements adds a little metallic feel. The beautiful thing about these elements is that, as light hits them, they kind of change color. Sometimes they appear cool. Sometimes they can be really bright."

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