K&D Group`s building renovation yields both cost, eco-savings

668 Euclid Ave. is under renovation and will open as a mixed-use facility with environmental elements. Photo credit: STAN BULLARD

By STAN BULLARD

for Crain`s Cleveland

4:30 am, August 3, 2009

(Original article found here.)

The $65 million redo of the former Atrium Office Plaza to 236 apartments will have lots of green construction features and sustainable strategies, but Doug Price, co-owner of Willoughby-based K&D Group, says not to look for the project at 668 Euclid Ave. to garner a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ranking.

“It doesn`t do anything for me to get that ranking,” said Mr. Price of the internationally recognized green building certification system. However, it does make sense to him to renovate the building — which at times housed a department store, warehouse and offices — in as cost-effective a way as possible.

“With the cost of energy, water and sewer going up 7% every year, we don`t have a choice” but to include energy-saving features in the project, he said. “As a company, we are committed to conserve resources and be as green as we can. People like that.”

As a result, when the apartment, retail and office complex opens later this year, it will have low-water-flow toilets, compact fluorescent light bulbs wherever possible and Energy Star-rated kitchen equipment.

Cleveland architect Tim Mulle, who is designing 668`s restaurant, storefronts and public areas and Wyse Advertising`s future first-floor office there, said the greatest green contribution of the structure is reusing an existing building.

Skylights and an atrium, which is being installed in the middle of the eight-story former office building on the Euclid side of the complex, will provide more natural light, Mr. Mulle said, and sensors will adjust the amount of artificial lighting according to what the outdoor light is like.

However, the biggest eco-savings is from providing a mix of uses in the complex, Mr. Mulle said. “It`s much more efficient than having a building that is empty half the time,” he said.