LEED at Platform

Project Description

Platform consists of four primarily residential buildings in Alexandria, VA. This community is approximately 587,623 square feet in conditioned area. It has a large central landscaped area as well as swimming pools and other outdoor amenities. It was designed and built to LEED for New Construction v4 standards.

Sustainable Sites

• Platform has been designed with over 40% open space including pedestrian areas, vegetated turf grass and hardscape with tree canopy coverage. These areas include benches, tables, chairs, grills, swimming pools and sun decks with lounge chairs.
• The vegetated open space also has a variety of native and adapted plants which provide year-round visual interest.
• Platform has underground parking reducing the urban heat island effect.

Water Efficiency

Low flow water fixtures installed in the building save over 31% compared to the LEED baseline. Water savings from efficient fixtures save an estimated 8,327,531 gallons of water per year. Plumbing fixture flow rates are below:

• Lavatory Faucets – 1.2 gallons per minute
• Toilets – 1.28 gallons per flush
• Showers – 1.75 gallons per minute
• Kitchen Faucets – 1.5 gallons per minute The landscape design results in water savings due to use of drip irrigation and native/adaptive plants. Water savings are an estimated 62% or 126,451 gallons of water in the peak summer watering month compared to the LEED baseline.

Energy and Atmosphere

Platform has been designed to meet and exceed ASHRAE 90.1-2010 energy standards. A whole building energy model was developed to determine the building’s energy performance and savings. The projected energy savings are 17.3% in energy cost compared to the ASHRAE 90.1-2010 baseline. Savings come from the following measures:

• Efficient lighting design including occupancy sensors in the garage, stairwells and corridors
• Demand control ventilation in apartments
• Ecobee smart thermostats in apartments that detect occupancy and have an automatic setback
• ENERGY STAR appliances
• High efficiency ENERGY STAR residential windows with a U-factor of 0.26 and 0.18 SHGC
• R-38 roof insulation

Materials and Resources

A construction waste management plan was implemented during construction with a goal of diverting material from disposal. Construction waste was diverted from disposal for 85.2% of construction waste. This represents 3,835 tons of construction material that was recycled or reused.

In addition, building materials were installed with a weighted 26 Environmental Product Declarations and 20 Health Product Declarations.

Indoor Environmental Quality

The project implemented a Construction IAQ Management Plan during construction. Absorptive materials were wrapped to prevent moisture damage, high-efficiency filters were installed, and ductwork was covered to prevent construction debris from entering the HVAC system.

Another measure to improve indoor air quality was use of low VOC paints, adhesives, sealants, and flooring. These permanently installed finishes were low VOC materials per LEED standards.