Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB) Headquarters in Fountain Square Indianapolis, Indiana, is the first civic nonprofit building in Indiana to receive LEED-Gold certification by the US Green Building Council. The Indiana Chapter of The American Society of Landscape Architects (INASLA) teamed with KIB to sponsor a KIB facility and grounds sustainability tour on September 24, 2009. The event brought back a team of professionals that worked together to make the new KIB Headquarters possible. Presenters included Cameron Smith – Shiel Sexton project engineer, Phil Schaefer - KIB VP of programs, and Chris Ranck - RW Armstrong project manager. 
The KIB-INASLA event began with a presentation on LEED certification. Cameron Smith led the charge as the LEED administrator for the KIB facility and discussed the LEED design and process. He discussed the importance of having LEED goals defined early in the process and the roles they play. As the LEED administrator, Cameron was the link from the owner to the MEP, Architect, General Contractor, Civil Engineer and Landscape Architect. Sharing his experience and professional knowledge on LEED, Cameron was able to reach out to the audience and deliver a terrific PowerPoint presentation. To develop the KIB LEED program, Cameron used an ECO-charette, or a collaborative design session in which multi-discipline professionals bring ideas and solutions together to meet design intent. Having multiple disciplines participate in the charette gave everyone an opportunity to reach out and explore ideas and defuse problems that normally arise in the design development phase. Discussions revolved around “Green Vegetative” versus “White” roofs. Questions included: “What is roof access and visibility?” “What are energy savings, weight, additional reinforcement, and cost?” “Should the roof drainage be routed and sent to one of the rain gardens to be filtered or should water be captured to a cistern?” Weighing each options’ advantages play an important role in the LEED certification process, design and construction.
Education and outreach programs at KIB are an important part of their sustainable program. Upon arrival at KIB, one will immediately notice the interpretive signage that tells the KIB LEED story on innovative green technology. Simple changes to traditional design and building functions allow for immediate benefits in savings. There are more than twenty interpretive panels installed throughout the site. Phil Schaefer brought the interpretive signs to life as he led the group through the building on an interactive guided tour. His enthusiasm and first hand knowledge on facility energy savings, construction, maintenance and operational benefits are inspiring.
KIB LEED facility savings are broken into five categories: conserving energy, protecting water, making places, purifying air and reducing consumption. So one may ask, “What makes the KIB facility green?” The site is developed on a Brownfield, and stormwater drains through a pervious concrete parking lot to planting beds and rain gardens. Wind turbines generate electricity, and a cistern collects white roof water. The facility has carpet tiles made from mill scraps, occupancy-sensored lighting controls, day lighting, a water conservation bathroom system and a multi-functional storage and gathering space. KIB aligned established facility goals with their mission of “Uniting people to build community and transform public spaces through aesthetic and environmental improvement”. A discussion on how KIB and the City of Indianapolis manage stormwater concluded the tour. Chris Ranck demonstrated a great PowerPoint presentation and led a panel discussion on small micro sites and large macro metropolitan site practice and policy. He emphasized stormwater control and monitoring for micro and macro stormwater systems need to work together to improve existing systems. Chris also reviewed stormwater practices that will benefit Indianapolis’ combined sewer overflow (CSO) system.
CSOs are sewer systems designed to collect rainwater runoff and domestic sewage in the same pipe. The frequency of overflow events has been increasing over the years. During an overflow, sewage gets discharged into nearby streams and water bodies. This untreated waste is toxic to stream ecosystems. Today, there are 772 cities in the United States that have CSOs. The Indianapolis CSO system is currently under review along with other metropolitan cities across the country. Green infrastructure systems are proving to be a cost-effective approach that is sustainable and environmentally friendly.
At the KIB facility, Chris completed a “micro scale” stormwater model. From data collected, he is able to extrapolate “micro-scale” benefits to “macro-scale” sites. By calculating benefits on a “micro-scale” and generating “macro-scale” models, preliminary studies are showing a cost savings on a micro level and the potential for tremendous cost savings at the macro level. Based on the analysis to date, the City of Indianapolis’ could realize $10,000 - $20,000 per acre in CSO capital cost savings per acre of redevelopment similar to KIB. However, the city is cautious in factoring in these savings into current CSO project designs until more green infrastructure sites have been built. The City of Indianapolis model shows how we can reduce total CSO events per year in a time when we are seeing an increase in 100 year storm events resulting in more CSO events than ever before. Chris also noted Indianapolis has a pilot project called the Fall Creek bio-retention which entails post construction monitoring, water quantity and water quality. Monitoring these systems has tangible benefits. Chris also noted the Green Infrastructure Master Plan prepared by the Office of Sustainability and Williams Creek Consulting.
By the numbers, the KIB LEED-Gold certified facility has 25% (53,000 kWh/year) energy savings, 36% (16,500 gallons/year) water savings, and 79% (535 tons) waste reduction diverted from landfill. This is a $7,500 annual savings with an average 15 year return on investment. Other benefits include a heightened profile and the opportunity to tour over 3,000 people through the facility in less than a year, each of them learning more about KIB’s impact in the city.Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Indiana Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects would like to thank everyone who presented and participated in the KIB tour.
Presentation contact information:
Phil G. D. Schaefer, VP of Programs
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB)
1029 Fletcher Ave.
Indianapolis, Indiana 46203
ph 317.264.7555
ph 317.264.7555 x 109 (direct)
www.kibi.org
pschaefer@kibi.org
Cameron Smith, Project Engineer LEED- AP
SHIEL SEXTON HEADQUARTERS
902 North Capitol Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
ph 317.423.6000
Fax 317.423.6300
www.shielsexton.com
csmith@shielsexton.com
Chris Ranck, Project Manager
RW Armstrong
Union Station / 300 South Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46225
ph 317.780.7263
ph 317.327.8728 (ICST)
fx 317.788.0957
www.rwarmstrong.com
www.cranck@rwa.com
Jhennifer Sanchez, LEEP-AP
Smock Fansler Corporation
2910 W. Minnesota St
Indianapolis, Indiana 46241
ph 317.248.8371
www.smockfansler.com
* Construction representation for panel discussion.
Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization affiliated with professionals around the world. WEF works to preserve and enhance the global water environment.
* The WEF organization claims a copyright on Chris Ranck’s technical paper and presentation,
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