USGBC, LEED and Green Building

The Pioneer 360 Business Center in Arlington, Texas is currently the largest LEED Gold Core and Shell Industrial project in the state of Texas.

The three-building, 1.16 million SF business park, built by Bob Moore Construction, is also one of the first industrial projects in Texas to earn LEED Gold Core and Shell certification.

"This is an exciting achievement," said Kyle Whitesell, Senior Project Manager for Bob Moore Construction. "We were able to deliver a 1.16 million square foot project that is not just LEED certified, but meets the extremely high standards of Gold level certification and is larger than any other Gold industrial project in the state. The fact that this is the one of the first LEED Gold Core & Shell industrial projects in Texas of any size shows how challenging it is to meet these standards, and I'm pleased that we were able to make it happen."

Some of the considerations for Pioneer 360 Business Center's LEED Gold certification include:

- The project began with the demolition and asbestos abatement of the Festival Marketplace mall; more than 95% - 91,634 tons - of steel, concrete, asphalt, copper and aluminum coming from the mall were recycled rather than sent to landfill.

- Community connectivity and infilling redevelopment rather than adding to suburban sprawl - The project replaced an abandoned mall and was built on already developed land instead of a previously undeveloped area.

- A white roof and light-colored concrete was used to reflect heat and reduce facility cooling costs.
Use of T-5 warehouse lights for energy conservation.

- Sunlight harvesting - use of a watt stopper system, which automatically controls lights in the skylight areas of the warehouse.

Tilt-up construction played an important role in Pioneer 360 Business Center's success and LEED certification. "We were able to leverage the advantages of tilt-up construction to meet the project's aggressive schedule and qualify for LEED Gold," said Ed McGuire, Vice President of Construction for Bob Moore Construction and Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Tilt-up Concrete Association. "Tilt-up allowed us to raise the buildings' shells and bring in the trades much more quickly than conventional construction would have permitted, thus compressing the construction schedule. This is a fundamental benefit of tilt-up construction and it was particularly valuable for us at Pioneer 360 Business Center.

"Tilt-up construction was also essential to us qualifying for LEED Gold Certification," Mr. McGuire added. "By definition, infill development takes place in a relatively confined space and tilt-up is well suited for an environment like this. It also allowed us to use light-colored concrete which was locally produced, which provided additional points during the LEED assessment. From a cost perspective, tilt-up allowed us to deliver the project at a feasible price point, with buildings that will enjoy reduced maintenance and insurance premium costs for decades to come. That makes the project economically viable as well as being environmentally conscious for the developer and future tenants. The Pioneer 360 Business Center is an outstanding example of how tilt-up construction is perfectly suited for green building and LEED certification."