Where did the trees go?

Last week, they tore the trees out on the south side of our site.   Yes, we think it's ironic that the first thing we had to do to build an environmentally friendly building was to remove the existing trees.   The problem is that they were the wrong type of trees, with shallow root systems that caused the sidewalks to buckle.

What will go up in their place (toward the end of construction) are trees better suited to an urban environment, with root systems that extend deep, but straight down.   And the trees play an important role in energy management.

In the summer months, when we want to block more of the sunlight coming into the building from our important southern exposure, the leaves on the trees will limit the light (and therefore the heat) that enters the windows.   Conversely, in the winter months come and we want as much of that heat and light as we can, there won't be leaves on the trees so we'll be able to take maximum advantage of that heat gain.   This is just one more part of smartly designing a building.

An interesting side note:  Our trees were taken to a wood recycling facility where they were shredded.    Much of the wood from that shredding plant will be used to fire a biofuels energy plant at United Corrstacks in South Reading.  That plant was developed in part with funding from our Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund.  Not only does it provide electricity for the plant from environmentally friendly biomass products, it helped create jobs for city residents.  

It was also interesting for us to note that, while the LEED standards require a high level of recycling on the site, they're silent on recycling trees (nothing's perfect).  Nevertheless, we think we found a win/win way to move our project forward, while making the best, most environmentally sensitive decisions available.  

In the end, the important thing about green building design is that it forces you to THINK about your options.