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Green Energy Building Tour

Las Vegas Cyclery

 

G R E E N     B U I L D I N G     E D U C A T I O N     P R O G R A M

 

Green Building Tour

 

Introduction

Las Vegas Cyclery represents a new standard for environmental stewardship and retail business with a commitment to green building and improved indoor air quality for the benefit of employees and customers. By prioritizing a healthy retail environment, this building promotes occupant health and happiness.

 

Las Vegas Cyclery was designed to meet the goals of the LEED rating system, a prescriptive approach to assessing green buildings. The scope of work for the project was to build from the ground up so the applicable LEED rating system was for New Construction. Additionally, the building was designed to provide 100% of its energy needs throughout the calendar year. This is referred to a “Net Zero Energy Building” (NETZEB). Essentially, Las Vegas Cyclery is its own power plant.

 

The following Green Building Tour is based on the following five subject areas:

 

Sustainable Sites

Water Efficiency

Energy & Atmosphere

Materials & Resources

Indoor Environmental Quality

Commitment

 

*the numbers  3.1, 5.2, 1.1, etc., refer to the LEED scorecard and are left on this brochure for students and those interested in the technical aspects of the LEED certification.

 

 

We hope you enjoy the tour and find interest in our efforts to protect our planet!

 

STOP #1 Front Entrance (outside on Discovery Drive)

1.1 Looking into the parking lot you will see preferred spaces given to Fuel Efficient Vehicles (Hybrid, Electric, Alternative Fuel vehicles) and Carpool Vehicles. This type of transportation is better for the

environment and saves employees money.

1.2 The “green” circular sculpture you see looking to the north is a bicycle rack. This rack will hold 18 bicycles and has been provided to support and encourage those employees and customers who choose to ride their bikes instead of drive a car to Las Vegas Cyclery. In addition to this bicycle rack, there are an additional 30 bicycle parking spots in the rear pavilion.

1.3 As you walk the parameter bike/run path around our building, you will notice drainages coming off the building and passing under the path.  You will also notice a concrete drainage behind the wind turbine.  These drainages are for storm water runoff and are controlled to prevent excessive erosion. These are based on a storm water management plan.

5.2 No smoking is allowed in the building or within 50 feet of any entrance, window, or air intake vent. Clean air is something everyone citizen of our planet is entitled to.

 

STOP #2 Renewable Energy Room (inside retail area)

3.1 Looking into the Renewable Energy Room you will notice a very large metal box. This is the solar PV inverter. This machine is designed to convert all sunshine (direct current D.C. energy into Alternating Current A.C. energy. This is the type of energy needed to run our electrical equipment. Las Vegas Cyclery has been designed and constructed to be a net zero energy building (NETZEB). At the time of construction, summer 2012, only ten other buildings in the United States were listed with the U.S. Department of Energy as NETZEB buildings (http://zeb.buildinggreen.com/).

3.2 Nearly all of the lighting in the building is controlled by occupancy sensors. These are positioned throughout the building for light control and energy efficiency. Essentially lights will come on only when the sensors see you moving! 

3.5 Las Vegas Cyclery has provided an active monitor that will show the solar energy generation of the building in real time. Additionally, wind generation production can be seen on the wind inverter (situated to the left of the solar PV inverter)When you see a little green light lit up on the inverter, this means the wind turbine is spinning and producing real time energy.

 

* BlipSeat ™ (The “round” green and black seats found in front of the Renewable Energy Room..and around the retail store) are made of reused rubber bicycle tires and waste banners and turf. The seats are filled with paper and plastic waste from our bike shop. If you don’t believe us, unzip the seat and look inside!  

 

STOP #3 Upstairs Balcony (2nd floor)

5.1 Las Vegas Cyclery values indoor air quality to improve the environment for staff and customers.

With these efforts, improved employee retention, less sick absences, and increased productivity are

expected.

3.3 Our refrigerator is not only EnergyStar rated, but slightly smaller than a standard refrigerator. Efficient equipment and appliances save energy.

3.4 This facility utilizes LED lighting which are more energy efficient than traditional fluorescent fixtures

and reduce the need to dispose of mercury contained in fluorescent bulbs. Additionally, LED lighting is up to 90% more efficient than standard incandescent lighting.

5.3 Materials low in volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) were used throughout the project. The adhesives contained no measurable VOC’s, and all sealants fell below 50 g/l. The average VOC content for all paints and coatings was 115 g/l.

5.4 All carpeting and adhesives met the Carpet and Rug Institutes Green Label Plus Indoor Air Quality

Test Program. Carpeting used on upper and lower levels was made from recycled content.

5.5 An indoor air quality program was implemented during the construction of Las Vegas Cyclery, to

minimize the introduction of pollutants from construction in the materials and ductwork of the

facility.

5.6 A building flushout was performed to flush 14,000 cubic feet per minute per square feet of outside

air throughout the building to mitigate the installed (LEED compliant) VOC’s.

5.7 Looking up into the roof of the balcony you will see three round tubes (usually very bright round tubes). These are called solar tubes or tubular day lighting devices. These solar tubes are used to enhance the indoor environmental quality through use of natural light. This also reduces energy use throughout the day. If you want to test the brightness of this solar tubes, go ahead and turn off the light switches at the top of each stairwell.

 

 * The silver metal roof you see while looking up anywhere in the building is quite unique! Your first thought is why there seems to be no insulation. Think again! Our roof is actually upside-down. The insulation for our building is there… but on the outside of the building! And it is double thick to fight the hot Las Vegas summer. The insulation is then sandwiched between two pieces of seamless metal roofing and then topped off with a sealant and solar panels! This building is air tight!

 

 

STOP #4 Restrooms/Showers (left of Running Center)

2.1 Take a drink of fresh clean water from our filtered drinking fountains! Las Vegas Cyclery is equipped with high efficiency, low flow water fixtures to reduce building water use by over 40% and to minimize the burden on municipal water supply and wastewater systems.

2.2 The men’s restroom features waterless urinals which use no potable water, except for cleaning.

2.3 All water closets (toilets) feature dual flush toilets which allow building users to reduce the buildings

total water consumption.

 

STOP #5 Re-Cycle Center (southwest exit of building)

4.1 To mitigate waste, our goal was to divert over 95% of construction waste to be recycled during the

construction period. This diverted over 100 tons of material from landfills.

4.2 Ongoing recycling minimizes trash costs and reduces the amount of waste in landfills. At Las Vegas Cyclery we always re-use first. If this is not possible, we then recycle the following; paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, light bulbs, batteries, bicycle rubber (tubes and tires), and even occasional vegetable oils from restaurants!

4.3 Over 20% of the materials that went into the project were comprised of recycled materials, of which,

31% was post-consumer content, including concrete, carpet, and casework.

4.4 In addition, over 20% of the materials were manufactured within a 500 mile radius to minimize the

negative transportation impacts associated with material distribution. This also supports the local

economy and builds networks of regional manufacturers and builders. Our entire block masonry (the brown bricks comprising most of this building) was manufactured just 12 miles away!

 

 

STOP #6 Bicycle Pavilion (outside under the solar awning)

2.4   The existing landscaping was designed use more than 63% less water than a standard landscape, by

using regional and adaptive vegetation and high performance irrigation. Notice our perfectly landscaped lawn. Never watered ….and always green!

 

*You will also notice the Las Vegas Cyclery Bike Wash Station underneath our solar awning. This was custom for our shop to reduce the waste of water by creating a “loop” of water flow through contained within the station. The Bike Wash Station can be moved anywhere on the property and runs on clean solar/wind produced electricity on-site! Go ahead and give your bike a well deserved bath!

 

 

STOP #7 Wind Turbine (outside near circular seating)

5.2 Once again, no smoking is allowed in the building or within 50 feet of any entrance, window, or air intake vent.

3.1 Las Vegas Cyclery has been designed and constructed to be net zero energy. From where you are standing, you can see not only a working wind turbine (wind “turbines” produce useable electricity where wind “mills” only run a specific tool or piece of machinery) but you can see nearly all of our 208 solar PV panels. Once again, this  building produces enough energy to meet our energy needs over the course of the year.

 

*The rubber ball near the circular pavilion seating area is what we call a “tube ball” We created this to show how much waste is involved with rubber. The smaller ball is about one month of tube replacements at our shop….now imagine a bike shop with a 15 year old tube ball! You would not  be able to roll it and it would be over 10 feet tall! This confirms how important it is to minimize our waste and reduce, reuse, and recycle.

 

THE BIG QUESTION:

 Do we sell our energy back to the utility company? Answer is yes and no. Yes we do send our excessive energy back into the utility grid but we do not receive money. Rather we receive “credits”. These credits can be used at night when the sun is not shining and/or the wind is not blowing. The trade off for not receiving money is the utility company agreed to pay for a portion of the installation of the solar panels…about one-third of the cost! The incentive for the utility company is that we at Las Vegas Cyclery help them to achieve their federal renewable energy requirements.

 

Conclusion

6.1 In addition to these features, Las Vegas Cyclery has implemented a green cleaning program that

requires staff to use products that are less toxic to building occupants and to the environment when disposed. These environmentally friendly products can be seen being used in our Service Area.

6.2 This tour is part of a larger effort to educate employees and the general public about the advantages of a green building and sustainable features of the space. This program aims to foster a new attitude among building occupants and visitor’s.

6.3 Las Vegas Cyclery recognizes the connection between sustainably designed buildings, reduced

energy and resource use, and the resulting improvements in employee/customer health and the

health of the environment. We hope to always be an important community member and a leader in smart and sustainable choices. We also hope you tell your friends to come and buy a bicycle from us and maybe a pair of running shoes!

Truly yours,

Have a great day!

Las Vegas Cyclery staff