Ramsons Joins U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council is a 501(C)(3) non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation.

Green construction (also known as LEED) is a budding movement in the construction industry. Research has shown that while automobile traffic and coal mines are getting the bad rap for carbon emissions, the major culprits of the environmental damage are actually the buildings we live and work in every day; the problem becomes even greater when you add the actual construction of the buildings into the emission equation. The construction industry responded to this fact by developing green construction standards (LEED).

Ramsons has been on the forefront of sustainable construction, always embracing the concept of efficiency through better design and construction standards. These are examples of sustainable design/construction initiatives that were featured on some of our alternative delivery projects (construction management or design/build):

• During construction of Jonesboro’s Dana Corporation in 1979, we innovated the use of fully insulated concrete tilt-up panels with exposed aggregate poured face-down. This dramatically increased the efficiency of the plant by allowing Dana to cool the building at night (not during peak hours). The concrete acts as a thermal block, meaning the air conditioner was not operated during the day.

• During the design-phase of the Searcy Medical Center, we included a geo-thermal system in the designThe recent construction of Trumann High School includes geo-thermal, sprayed insulation and the state mandated lighting system.

• A recent design/build project for a local manufacturer (confidential at this time) has included triple glazing with low-e-glass, LED lighting, spray insulation and the use of local domestic hardwoods

In addition to pushing for the design of efficient buildings, we also embrace efficiency within our company by:

• Carefully planning the cutting of construction material to eliminate waste
• Recycling, salvaging and re-using construction material
• Buying from local vendors to reduce carbon emissions
  
• Buying native species when possible to again, reduce carbon emissions
• Carpooling when working on out-of-town projects

We are in the early stages of formalizing our Green plans. It is in our business plan to earn Green AP accreditation by the end of 2009. We see LEED construction as the future and look forward to opportunities to expand into this area of construction.