When Irvine-based LPA Inc. designed the Toyota Motor Sales headquarters in Torrance to Green Building Council standards in 2001, the building was one of just a few dozen nationwide to bear the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating. Today, developers increasingly are turning to the green standards for office buildings, convention centers, hotels and other types of structures.
“There’s a tremendous variety in scope,” said LPA president Dan Heinfeld. “People are beginning to realize that green is a great design partner.”
Heinfeld said that while LEED certification is the gold standard for environmental design, there are other things that can be done to solve problems, like indoor air quality, without seeking LEED certification.
Technological advances, for instance, have helped designers remove more volatile organic compounds from heating and air conditioning systems through better filtering systems.
“Indoor air quality (standards) are almost in the category of best practices now,” Heinfeld said.
LPA worked with the city of Irvine to develop a green initiative for commercial buildings, which the city is considering.
At Orange Coast College, LPA is working on a health, biology and consumer sciences building that includes a planetarium. That building meets environmental standards set specifically for schools.
Heinfeld called green design “some of our best work.”
“The green movement is the best thing that has happened to the building industry,” he said.
,Sandi Cain
