The green team By Catherine Berlin Ciminelli’s directors of development: Kirk Burzynski and Timothy Vaeth Photo by kc kratt. Ciminelli’s directors of development Kirk Burzynski and Timothy Vaeth are both LEED APs (accredited professionals). Their accreditation allows Ciminelli Development Company, Inc. to promote green construction projects through the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices. USGBC is composed of more than 350 organizations from across the building industry working to advance structures that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. USGBC creates a scoring system known as the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, LEED for short, a system that evaluates whether a building satisfies environmentally friendly requirements. In order to become LEED accredited, project coordinators Burzynski and Vaeth had to tack additional studies on to their already extensive educational background and practical experience, reading massive texts and attending seminars focused on designing, engineering, and constructing green. The educational programs are open to the public, but earning the AP status does require testing. The Ciminelli team always raises with clients the prospect of having a building LEED certified. “We used to ask, ‘Can we do green?,’” Vaeth explains. “Now we say, ‘We’re doing green unless you tell us we can’t.’” This qualifies as a paradigm shift, and a welcome one at that. Ciminelli recently completed the John W. Danforth Company’s new office and warehouse facility in Victor. The buildings high performance design should result in an annual thirty-five percent reduction in energy consumption and forty-one percent in water consumption. A few of the green design components are in-floor radiant heat, window glazing to increase the use of natural day-lighting, recycled and locally manufactured building materials, connection to area bike trails, low Volatile Organic Compound paints, carpets, and sealants, drought-resistant landscaping, and even night sky compliant exterior lighting to help reduce light pollution. The building is currently awaiting a Gold Level rating, the second-highest certification available within the LEED program. Reduced cost is another welcome change within the green construction area. Going green used to be practically prohibitively expensive. Now, although there are still expense premiums involved in getting certified, people and companies are able to enjoy the actual long-term cost benefit associated with reduced operating costs (as is found with reduced energy and water consumption), and a more fit, happier, and healthier workforce. Burzynski describes the process as involving two phases: design and construction, with no time wasted on getting to the heart of it. For example, contractors and subcontractors must assure the developer that its employees working on the job site will not smoke (keeping the construction materials free of second-hand smoke) or dump waste inappropriately. In addition, waste construction materials must be recycled. Project managers go onsite to assure compliance. USGCB agents also certify compliance. As for green opportunities in Buffalo, we are behind in the national drive, the team explains, but a major reason for that is our weather. On the other hand, we do have the options now of working to harness the wind, using specialty glass to use the sunlight to our advantage, and working to incorporate new product developments on the horizon. Ciminelli is excited enough about Western New York prospects, and plans more internships for students like Grand Island native Robert Carrao, currently a student at the Syracuse University’s School of Forestry, who is part of the Emerging Green Builders. Eventually, every construction professional in WNY will be LEED accredited. Indeed, one can imagine a day when no building will lack some level of LEED standards. Catherine Berlin is a writer, photographer, and lawyer, raising children and a husband in Buffalo. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top