Measurable Green Building Design

By Imelda Vergara


Texas State University is committed to standards for Green Building design and recycling the tons of waste generated by the its $640 million construction plan.

Green building is the development of healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation and maintenance.

The Round Rock nursing school is just one of the buildings being built under LEED standards, Leadership in Energy and Enviornmental Design.

LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, created by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED provides building owners and operators an outline for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

The Rock Round building is a $22 million project, it will generate 3-4 tons of waste, according to Coyle Buhler, the Texas State director of facility planning design and construction.

Recycling the waste will cost the university an additional $150, 000 for the Round Rock to meet LEED requirements said Buhler.

The university doesn't actually use recycled materials in their construction because right now the price of raw materials is actually cheaper than the price of recycled materials. Buhler thinks that if more people where to adapt to the USGBC waste standards the prices of these environmentally beneficial items should go down.


Flintco is the construction company contracted by Texas State, in charge of gathering the unused materials and placing them in the dumpsters. “We presort the waste, into 5 dumpsters on site. We then contract several recycling facilities who pick the dumpsters up, break the materials down and insert them back into the work flow,” said Peter Narvarte, construction director of the Round Rock nursing school and Flinto. Construction company employee.

Most of the waste generated from buildings needs to got to specific recycling centers. Texas State has to pay a premium for this to be possible because Flintco has to contract waste management facilities that take these sorted items to their specific locations.

Triad is one of the waste management companies contracted by Flintco. According to Adrian Neely, Triad owner, Texas State is good about meeting its LEED standards. “We have a goal of 75 percent divergence. So far we’ve picked up 2 tons of waste debris from the Round Rock building and we’ve met 93 percent divergence. Only 12 percent has gone to landfills.” According to Neely there is no room left on landfills and they constantly need to meet high divergence rates. He thinks the LEED is leading the way when it comes to efficient and long lasting construction and minimizing waste.

Attonery with U.S. Enivonmental Protection Agency, Pat Meehan, said that they provide grants to research organizations but that Texas State is not yet one of them. USEPA has many focuses among them is "green building" which is gaining in momentum.