The future of office buildings arrived here on Tuesday, as Intel Israel
dedicated the country’s first LEED-certified green building in Haifa. The NIS
450 million structure was awarded the second-highest rating, Gold, in the
American LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification
system. It also conforms to the Standards Institution of Israel standard 5281
for green building.
The structure was inaugurated in a gala ceremony
attended by Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan. In his remarks, Ben- Eliezer
stressed the “natural and necessary connection between business and
environmental protection.”
Buildings represent a significant source of
pollution and greenhouse gases – some 40 percent worldwide. Green
building has
emerged to reduce this impact as much as possible without compromising
the
hi-tech, state-of-the-art nature of buildings. While it is beginning to
take
hold abroad, there are barely a handful of green buildings in Israel.
The
US Green Building Council initiated the LEED standard to encourage
ecologically-
sound construction in that country.
The highly regarded, yet complex,
LEED system rates buildings according to their environmental properties,
including water and energy consumption, interior conditions and more. It
takes
into account everything from construction materials, energy management
and
natural light to bike racks and showers.
The Haifa facility, called IDC9,
is Intel’s first LEED Gold building in the world.
Israel’s standard 5281
for buildings with minimal environmental impact addresses four main
areas:
energy, water savings, land, and various ecological issues. The Intel
building
meets the Israeli standard at the “Outstanding Green Building” level.
The
Israeli standard is slated to undergo major revisions, and Erdan said at
the
ceremony that he would be working closely with the Standards Institute
of Israel
to ensure that the standard conformed more closely to international
levels.
Green building begins with the construction process itself,
according to a short video describing the 11-story Intel building that
was
screened at the inauguration.
Construction waste was separated at the
source into its component parts and recycled.
Thirteen percent of the
construction materials themselves came from recycled sources as well. To
prevent
damage to natural assets, the structure went up on an area that had been
used as
a parking lot, rather than breaking new ground.
The building’s
sustainable design will result in an anticipated reduction of 17% in
total
energy consumption. One example of the cutting-edge energy-saving
techniques in
use can be found in its server room. The 700-sq.m. space will eventually
have as
many as 15,000 computers, which will generate a lot of heat, said an
employee
who led a short tour of the room. That heat will be recycled for hot
water and
winter heating, he explained. The room itself, like the rest of the
building,
uses energyefficient lighting and is equipped with motion detectors that
turn
off the lights.
The building features wide, doubleglazed windows, patios
and reflective shelves, which let in natural light with lower solar
heat. More
than 75% of its regularly populated areas are exposed to natural light
with the
help of automatic control systems, which regulate the flow, according to
the
company.
Automatic sensors also control the levels of artificial lighting
according to the natural light. Employees can control lighting and
temperatures
in their offices through their personal computer. Fresh air is monitored
by CO2
sensors that track the number of people on each floor. The amount of
fresh air
remains at an optimal level at all times to ensure ventilated areas and
save
energy.
The roof will be covered with vegetation and heat-reflecting
materials to lower interior temperatures. The roof garden alone will
provide
enough thermal insulation to lower the heat load by 17 cooling tons.
On
Tuesday, the building was air conditioned to keep out the summer heat,
although
it was comfortable rather than cold.
A special control system reduces
water consumption for gardening needs by 55%, compared with average
summer
consumption.
In addition, water that’s condensed by air conditioners
(20cu.m. per day) is collected and used for gardening. Water savings of
30% will
be achieved by using standard water-saving sanitary systems (faucets,
showers,
toilets and urinals).
The building’s data center was designed to save
energy as well. Among other features, it makes use of Intel Xeon
processors,
which significantly reduce power consumption.
The projected annual
savings is NIS 750,000.
“Intel is committed to incorporating
environmental protection principles in the construction of its new
facilities,
as well as making strategic enhancements in existing facilities so that
they
meet the highest standards,” David Perlmutter, executive vice president
and
general manager of Intel Architecture Group, said in a statement.
“We
seek to assign equal importance to economic, social and environmental
goals.
The IDC9 building in Haifa provides Intel with economic benefits
with minimal environmental impact.”
Yosef Shenkler, manager of Intel
Israel’s development centers, said during the ceremony that the green
building
represented the company’s commitment to social and environmental
responsibility.
Maxine Fassberg, vice president of Intel Corporation and
general manager of Intel Israel, said the that “as a technological
company,” it
worked “unrelentingly to find innovative solutions for reducing our
environmental footprint.”
“The building provides our employees with a
safe, green and healthy environment, which saves energy and natural
resources
for the benefit of the building occupants and the environment,” Fassberg
said.
“In addition, the building hosts the largest server farm in Israel,
which is run
with innovative ecological systems.”
Mayor Yona Yahav praised Intel for
constructing the green building in his city, and called it a “great
honor” for
Haifa.
“The collaboration between Intel and the City of Haifa enabled a
very short construction time without compromising the building’s quality
or
environmental contribution,” Yahav said. “Intel management’s confidence
in the
city’s ability to support the green building positions Haifa as Intel’s
largest
development center in the world.
We are proud to have helped Intel Israel
achieve this status.”
Intel was established in Santa Clara, California,
in 1968 by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyes. In 1971, it presented the
first
microprocessor, creating the computer revolution that changed the world.
Its
Pentium and Centrino chips were developed in Israel.
the company
currently employs 80,000 people around the world and has been operating
in
Israel since 1974. Intel Israel has four development centers (in Haifa,
Yakum,
Jerusalem and Petah Tikva) and two production plants (in Kiryat Gat and
Jerusalem), employing 6,340 people directly, as well as several thousand
external employees.