It can stand tall in a Category 5 hurricane, but it treads lightly on the environment.

 

The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded LEED Certification to Gulf Power and Bay Design Associates Architects for Gulf Power’s Distribution Operations Center (D.O.C.), recognizing its energy efficiency and reduced impact on the environment.

 

The Distribution Operations Center is one of only five buildings to be LEED Certified in Northwest Florida — among three in Escambia County. LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized green building certification system. LEED gives third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built to improve energy savings, water efficiency, CO₂ emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Morette Construction completed the building in 2009.

 

Third-party testing confirmed that the 5,700 square-foot Operations Center achieves:

·         32-percent reduction in building water use

·         20-percent estimated reduction in energy use

·         35-percent materials used of high recycled content

·         47-percent use of local materials

 

The building also features a geothermal heating and cooling system, which reduces heating and cooling energy consumption by more than 30 percent.

 

“This partnership proves that you can build strong and still protect the environment,” said Sandy Sims, Public Affairs manager for Gulf Power. “We can ‘walk our talk’ as we help our customers achieve better energy efficiency. We were able to achieve this without increasing the cost of construction, and over time, this efficiency also benefits our customers.”

 

The D.O.C., Gulf Power’s nerve center during electricity restoration efforts and line service operations, was designed to withstand 200 mph-winds from a Category 5 hurricane. The operators work much in the same way as air traffic controllers, allowing line and service crews to safely restore electricity while maintaining reliable electricity service to as many customers as possible.

 

Gulf Power needed to relocate the Operations Center after selling its Pace Boulevard office to Escambia County School District. The company began working with Bay Design Associates Architects to design a functional building that reduces impacts on the environment while maintaining security and comfort.

 

By designing the building to be built on a pre-existing parking lot, Gulf Power was able to conserve land by not clearing it.

 

“It is important to emphasize — we did this at no additional cost to the building

design,” said Kelly Wieczorek, director of Sustainable Design with Bay Design Associates Architects. “By using thoughtful design, we were able achieve all of these goals.”

 

 

Gulf Power Company is an investor-owned electric utility that serves more than 428,000 customers in 10 counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely deliver affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible energy to very satisfied customers in strong communities.