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 Building Green = SMART
by Enrique Vargas
FOR DEVELOPER DAN SHORE, building “green” is not about employing drastic measures like stopping growth or building with fewer amenities. Building green is about buildings marter—Tomakeareal difference in energy consumption requires thinking smarter and thinking bigger…
Since Al Gore achieved international
notoriety and shared the treasured Pulitzer
Prize for his work illuminating the effects of
global climate change as a result of increasing
carbon emissions, there has been so much
hype surrounding green initiatives and
sustainability that people have become
overwhelmed with information – so much so
that many feel paralyzed by the number of
options that exist to decrease energy
consumption. We often overlook the bigger
picture because it is truly overwhelming,
offering very little “good news” for the future.
This is not to suggest that the value of saving
each watt or gallon of water is unimportant.
Assuming the responsibility to make small
dents in bigger items, instead of focusing our energies on making insignificant big changes
to smaller items, is the real secret to reducing
our overall global energy footprint.
Thinking on a larger scale is what Dan
Shore does best. Founder of Shore Associates,
Inc. in San Jose, California, Shore coordinates
the development and project management of
some of the “smartest” buildings on earth. His
clients include Yahoo!, Adobe and several other
high tech firms around the country, all
demanding the highest standards of
technological excellence and doing so with a
social conscience. Their campuses must not only
reflect the environmental values of the
company, management and staff, they must
also be “smart” and fiscally responsible. As the
developer for La Concha Pearl, Shore is utilizing his knowledge of technology and commitment
to green building to create one of the most high
tech and environmentally friendly beachfront
developments in Baja Sur, Mexico. Shore is a
self-styled, forward-thinking “efficiency” expert
who fancies “thinking out of the box” and
pushing the technology envelope.
“Consumers are being pushed to make
radical changes in the small stuff, like
carrying their own reusable grocery bags or
not using plastic bottles! While I do advocate
everyone doing what they can to save energy
and reduce waste, completely eliminating
these items would make little or no impact
when it comes to the big picture. Priceless
example - waterless urinals. Replacing all
your urinals to save a quarter gallon a flush
versus the 500 million gallons
a day used for the summertime
irrigation of California’s golf
courses seems a little silly! Did
you know that the city of
Seattle just banned beach
bonfires in the name of global
warming?” notes Shore.
Shore continues, “Many developers
often overlook the energy savings you can
create by shifting your thinking. For
example, if you change one large system
in building methods i.e., say your air
conditioning system, you can save 100
times the energy you would by just
changing out all those silly “curly bulbs”.
Besides, curly/fluorescent lamps are bad
for your eyes, take more energy and
create more pollution to make, and are
hazardous to dispose of. To make a
meaningful impact on energy use,
developers must invest their time and
money in technologies that provide the
most energy savings for greatest economic
value.”
La Concha Pearl
Becomes Reality
What was once just an idea to
utilize environmentally friendly
construction techniques to engineer La
Concha Pearl, a 7-story beachfront tower
offering 33 luxurious residences on one
of the most pristine beaches in La Paz is
now a reality. The build team first set an
objective to qualify for a US-based LEED
certification. Then they registered the
project with the US Green Building
Council, targeting the “Gold” standard.
This is the first project to be registered in
BCS and won’t be certified until 3 to 4
months after completion. To become
certified, the USGBC will test each point
and most likely disallow a few, which
would certify the building with the
“Silver” standard at a minimum. All this
seems very cool (pardon the pun). To
pull this off, the developers knew they
would have to radically change the way
they approached the project, especially
since it is located in Mexico where
resources such as electricity and water
are in low supply and very expensive -
plus labor is entrenched in the
traditional “brick and mortar” mode.
The build team recognized early on that
they would have to team up with a local
builder that was dedicated to utilizing
new technologies and processes and
who most importantly, possessed the
capability to implement the efficiencies
Shore’s team sought in a very highquality
fashion. New Tek, a local La Paz
engineering, construction and project
management firm, had all the qualities
Shore was looking for and won the
contract to build La Concha Pearl.
Safety and Practicality
Are a Priority
As a developer, Shore believes safety and
practicality should come first in defining the
green scheme. For example, the earthen blocks
(formerly used in Loreto Bay), do not provide
seismic strength and promote infestation
(termites, rodents, etc.) into this “natural”
product. For this reason, Shore refused to use
this method at La Concha Pearl Luxury
Condominiums. Shore also avoided conventional
building methods like post and beam
construction and is pushing for increased
acceptance and promotion of the concrete /
foam form systems outlined in the International
Building Code (IBC) versus the Mexican post and
beam with block infill standards that have no
acoustic or thermal qualities.
Smarter Building
Materials
Shore’s team opted for a smarter
alternative building material offering benefits
such as seismic strength exceeding Zone 4
earthquake design, the ability to withstand a
Category 5 hurricane, and climate comfort - all
part of the cast-in-place Quad Lock ICF “insulated
concrete foam” system. This energy-efficient
concrete / foam combination, pioneered and
promoted by New Tek in Mexico, provides
superior insulation, isolation, and interior
acoustics. The Quadlock system, along with a
shading model with deep balcony overhangs,
also provides an estimated 50% reduction in
cooling load. ICF’s allow great flexibility, quick
installation with reduced material handling, and
far less wasted fuel required to deliver heavy
concrete block over long distances to
development sites. Shore hopes to change the
model and is leading by example.
Energy Efficiency
Throughout is the Key
“Energy efficiency is often overlooked by
developers who don’t ever pay utility bills,
and it is especially important in La Paz where
summertime temperatures regularly exceed
100 degrees F for weeks on end,” says Shore.
At La Concha Pearl, Shore’s team designed
a system that uses efficient chillers with
evaporative cooling and after-hours production
of “ice” in the thermal storage system and selfcontained
cistern, instead of employing
traditional air-cooled chillers or roof top
condensers. Their method is purported to be
30% more efficient and shifts 30% of the
cooling load to the nights, further reducing
utility bills by staying off the peak billing
period. To avoid wasting energy, smarter and
practical “brains” were incorporated into simple
computerized energy management systems
allowing the shutdown of systems when not in
use. It is a known fact there is nothing greener
than turning systems off, especially when there
is no impact to the building occupants.
To add greater efficiency to the
building’s creature comfort systems, Shore
commissioned the design for an air
conditioning system that will further reduce
energy costs by employing a mere 70-ton
system rather than the normal 150-ton air
conditioning system for similar sized buildings
found throughout Baja. Experiences gleaned
in the Silicon Valley led Shore to a window
manufacturer that offers windows that are
not only extremely attractive, but are dualpaned
and low-E coated, and filled with Argon
gas for additional energy savings. These
windows provide less heat conduction without
losing interior light. The two-tiered swimming
pool and spas are heated exclusively by solar
water panels, and all perimeter lighting is
powered by a photo voltaic system.
Greater Return
on Investment
According to Rory King, Sales Director
for La Concha Pearl, “The return on
investment of this intelligent design has
become a major selling point for our condo
units. Intelligent design decisions avoid high
operating costs and the senseless waste of
energy. Plus the superior building materials
add exceptional strength, acoustic insulation
and cooling power to minimize energy use.
Our clients purchase for a variety of reasons
- great weather, a healthy lifestyle and the
laid-back environment that allows them to
relax, but underlying all these reasons is the
desire to make a sound investment decision.
I think that as green building becomes more
mainstream, the resale value of green,
environmentally intelligent projects will net
higher profits when the time comes to resell
the home or condo. Our clients share this
attitude and are proud to be a part of this
new residence community.”
Leading with
Intelligent Engineering
New Tek is the exclusive Quad Lock
distributor for Baja and provides technical
support for all of Mexico. Les Zwaryck,
managing partner in New Tek and the project
manager of LCP claims, “Our goal in bringing
green methods to Baja Sur is to lower the
strain of growth and development on the
community and to respect and maintain
the value of the views
and the natural
environment that
first drew us to Baja.
Greater Benefits to
Baja as aWhole
“Feeling green is not enough, we have
to build smart. Implementing this new way of
thinking will have a significant impact on
energy consumption in Baja as a whole. I feel
the extra efforts we have made sends a
dramatic statement to other developers in
Baja – we must change the way we do things
by educating ourselves on what is possible
using today’s more energy–efficient
technologies. If our building can earn a LEED
certification, we then demonstrate that it is
possible to build in an energy efficient
manner that protects the very resources that
attract our buyers, and remain profitable as
well,” says Shore.
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