Once we finished removing and prepping (see Going Green as It Goes Deeper post) it was time to start putting something back into the project and building.  Furthermore, if we are going to put material back in the ground to build this project it better be as green as possible.  For some this is nothing new, but for others rebar and concrete can and in our case do have a high amount of recycled content.  Our steel rebar, 38 tons of it contains at least 95% recycled content.  Our concrete has 15% fly-ash content, which is a waste byproduct of coal plants.  So, instead of 2 tons of fly-ash going to landfills it goes into our concrete and actually makes it stronger.  Plus, both materials came from local plants, the rebar plant is 53 miles away and the concrete plant is 58 miles away.  The proximity of the plants reduces the impact of vehicle miles traveled by the materials.
     

Video of Basement Concrete Pour

Do you stand for something or do you stand against something?  At REthink we very definitely stand FOR something.  We stand for inspiring, environmentally sensitive, high performance, low impact, healthy buildings.  We stand for the principles of walkable neighborhoods less dependent on cars and more dependent on community.  We believe in building for the greatest benefit to the greatest number.  We believe in meeting the needs of people, profit, and planet in every project we undertake.  We do our best to live up to our ideals (and ask for your help in keeping us on track).

Our approach to development is inclusive.  We speak to neighbors near our projects early and often.  We listen and address their concerns in ways we believe are reasonable.  We hope for the same in return.

We recognize that there is no such thing as a zero-impact development.  By the dictionary definition, development means “growth” and “progress”.  Both of these definitions mean change and there is no way to avoid it in our business.  What we do insist on in every project is that the change is on balance for the good of the local and larger communities.  For example, we put higher density in the middle of a city near public transit.  As a result people don’t drive as far and more people can get to work without a car and growth pressure on pristine lands and farm lands are diminished.  Such development will result in less traffic but there will be more traffic near the project.  If we do our jobs well, the annoyance of added cars in the local area is outweighed by the positive attributes of the project. 

We are secure in our belief that what we do is good for the planet and good for the communities in which we build.  Where we run into trouble is when what we stand for comes in conflict with others that are equally certain of what they stand against.  We have a lot to learn about how to resolve such conflicting goals.  One thing is for sure, that if one of the two parties in conflict do not strive to understand the needs of the other, there is impasse. 

I continue to learn, to listen, and to try to understand.  I expect a fair result but I am willing to work for it.  I hope for reasonable people to see the good in what we do and I hope my skin grows a bit thicker in the meantime.

Although, the process of demolition, digging a hole, and building an underground garage is not glamorous or all that green on the surface we enjoyed it and found the green lining in it.

First of all, big powerful construction trucks are cool for guys no matter how old you are (especially my 2 1/2 year old son). Then watch them rip down a building, drill deep holes into the earth, hoist 30 foot steel beams into place, and dig out 15,000 cubic feet of dirt they become cooler. Then power them with biodiesel created from recycled vegetable oils collected from Southern California restaurants and they become even cooler.

Starting from demolition throughout the entire project all construction site vehicles will be powered by biodiesel, B100. When we first requested this of our sub contractors we got some funny looks, but they soon saw their construction trucks performed just as well. Plus, they started to see and pay more attention to some of the other green measures we were asking them to follow.

The demolition company we selected typically rips down and sorts different building materials to recycle but not to the degree we were asking of them. Their first surprise was when we had them carefully remove a piece of music studio control room glass. This was a delicate job for a demolition company, but we needed to save it because glass like this is not made anymore and it was worth close to $10,000. Instead of just breaking it and recycling it, we and the Robb Brothers donated it to a music studio for kids. The next surprise was when we wanted to take pictures of and get receipts for all the mixed waste, concrete, masonry, and steel that was divided up, put in different dump trucks and taken to different recycling centers. The demo guys had never seen two geeky looking business guys so interested in trash. All in all, 90% of the former Cherokee Recording Studios was recycled. Sometimes destroying can be green.

After the old was gone the next step in building our green infill development was to dig a big hole to put in underground parking. This process consisted of drilling holes to put 30 foot steel soldier beams around the perimeter to hold the wall of earth up around the garage. Shoring and lagging up those walls as the big machines dug all the dirt out on the way down to the bottom of the basement kept the dirt from falling back into hole. Then the Shotcrete subcontractor came in and shotcreted the walls of the hole to make it solid and prevent future water and dirt penetration into the garage.

 While the enormous drill, big crane, excavators, bulldozers, and loaders where pretty exciting you might be wondering how green this could be. Well, steel is recyclable and this steel contained recycled material most likely from old cars, the shotcrete consisted of 30% fly ash (which is a waste byproduct of coal plants), and the trucks again were powered by biodiesel. Digging a hole to bury parking is much better than putting it on surface parking lots for a number of reasons. First of all, it is a much more efficient use of land in a dense infill location that takes advantage of existing public infrastructure, transit, and local commercial services. It reduces heat island effect as surface parking lots absorb heat. Plus, surface parking lots often add to our storm water runoff problems by allowing all the engine oils and dirt to wash directly into the storm drains. Lastly, parking lots in an urban pedestrian locations are much less desirable than buildings that contain community serving retail or other more attractive elements than a hot parking lot of cars.

So, the first part of Cherokee Lofts and the first LEED Gold project in Hollywood has been completed. It all happened on schedule, on budget, and with our green goals achieved. Now it’s time to start actually building and coming up out of the ground in a green way. Stay tuned…

Of everything we have gone through to get construction on the Cherokee project started, can you guess what has been the hardest?  We had to locate a good piece of land in a good neighborhood.  Hard.  We had to buy that piece of land in a competitive market and pay the right price.  Very Hard.  We had to raise money.  Lots of work.  We had to design the project and get support from the neighbors for it.  Not fun. We had to wade our way through the entitlements process.  Long, slow, trying.  We had convince a bank to get a loan during the credit crisis.  Quite challenging.  Can you believe that of all these things the most angst producing, unnecessarily expensive, time consuming, frustrating and convoluted and difficult process was getting plan check clearances from the City for a building permit?

There were no less than 23 clearances required from six city departments plus LADWP and none of them care about your schedule or your budget.  Each of the 6 departments has an average of 2 stops for which you stand in line each time.  You never get the clearance the first time. Planning actually checks the same exact plans in two different offices in the exact same location on two consecutive floors in the same building. 

Our building and safety plan check engineer went on vacation twice during our plan check process.  She was not the only one to make us wait while they went on vacation for weeks at a time– that is right, they don’t reassign the plans so you just wait until they return with their nice Hawaiian tan.  We had a plan check engineer quit after reviewing our plans once requiring us to resubmit the plans to receive a completely different set of comments the second time.  Under “perfect” conditions it takes two weeks to get an appointment just to ask questions of a plan checker in some departments.  Imagine not getting all of your questions answered in one meeting…  And you need an appointment just to turn the plans in– another two weeks.  The same shoring plans need to be approved separately by two departments that request different changes at different times.  If shoring plans are submitted on a different day than your architectural plans, they are put on a separate permit but if they are submitted at the same meeting they are on the same permit.  The separate shoring permit requires the same 23 clearances from the same 6 departments to be done separately… but they don’t bother to mention this until you try to start building. 

On top of making the process nearly unbearable, you actually get to pay the City to have them to torture you in this way.  Most builders not only pay these plan check fees but also pay a third-party expediter to get your plans through the maze.  The fees are significant.  However, they pale compared to the cost of carrying the project through the months it takes to successfully emerge from the process.

Keep in mind, after all of the effort we went through to get our permits we were a “Priority Project” under the City’s LEED project expediting program.  In fact, we had amazing advocates in Building and Safety and Planning helping us throughout.  Furthermore, none of the issues I mentioned above include complications arising from green building.  The process we have gone through for special green features makes this process look fun.  Is there any wonder there are so few builders willing to innovate when the normal process is so difficult?  You learn quickly it is better to standardize everything.  If we are going to build great buildings and a great city, there are some fundamental changes that must be made first.  I suggest we start with the permitting process.

As the adage goes, “you can’t fight City Hall,” but at least now we can blog about it.