Old Greenwood, a year-round resort community in Truckee, Calif., has the first golf maintenance facility in the United States to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
LEED was created by the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization that provides a national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
“Old Greenwood is to be commended for its commitment to environmentally sustainable building,” said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC president, chief executive officer and founding chair.
According to Joel Blaker, CGCS, director of agronomy at Old Greenwood, the course's Natural Resource Management Center was built as part of its designation as an Audubon International Gold Signature Sanctuary. Old Greenwood, which one of three courses in Tahoe Mountain Club, has been open for about a year. It was the second course Blaker grew in there. A third course, Gray's Crossing, is scheduled to open next spring.
Blaker said that when the additional courses were being planned, he and the owners knew that the two courses would operate out of one shop. "It turned out to be a unique opportunity to build a special facility," he said. "Working with the architects and owners through the planning process was special."
With input from Blaker, East West Partners, Old Greenwood's parent company, modeled the 11,500- square-foot Natural Resource Management Center into an example for local green building.
It consists of a golf course maintenance facility, fuel/wash station, irrigation/fertilization pump-house, material recycling bays, storage islands and offices.
Highlights of the sustainable strategies and accomplishments of the project include:
* Wash station recycles vehicle/equipment wash water and organics for reuse as golf course irrigation and compost.
* Water-saving features earned all credits for efficient landscaping and water-use reduction, including infrared faucet control and waterless urinals. In addition, the drip irrigation system water utilizes golf course rainwater capture, recirculation ponds and wash water recycling.
* Building performance exceeded California Energy Code, Title 24 standards, by 26 percent.
* More than 94 percent of construction waste was diverted away from the landfill by recycling and reuse.
* Building materials contain more than 10 percent of post-consumer recycled content.
* The building achieved 50 percent wind power through the purchase of Green Tags (also called Renewable Energy Credits).
* Provided protection for intermittent on-site stream and avoided natural assemblages during clearing.
* Restoration included areas and wildlife corridors with shrub and herb layers as well as trees to increase the vertical vegetation layers.
* Set aside a 259-acre parcel preserve of Jeffery pine forest ecosystem, which has a permanent conservation easement and dedicated to the Truckee Donner Land Trust.
For more on the Green Building Council visit http://www.usgbc.org/
