Sinduscon-Ba Project Description The Sinduscon-Ba Headquarters is located in the city of Salvador-Bahia-Brazil and built where the former headquarters once stood . The 10-story commercial building occupies an area of 594.70 m2 with a built area of 2449.06 m2 , consisting of 5 office floors , an auditorium , a flexible corporate space with meeting rooms for seminars , lectures and events , a roof top with garden and 2 floors for car parking . The construction process lasted 16 months , from July 2012 to November 2013 . It was built with a reinforced and prestressed concrete structural system , double concrete block cavity walls and steel column foundations with reinforced concrete blocks .
The Sinduscon-BA Headquarters was built under the AQUA-HQE sustainability certification criteria incorporating technologies and sustainable solutions throughout the design concept stage , construction stage and during its operation and use stage . Building solutions include : solar panels , wind turbines , elevated floors , building management systems , bioclimatic facades , Dali system for natural light optimization , LEDs , light sensors , green roofs , green walls , natural gas central air conditioning system , enthalpic wheel , CO2 control for indoor air quality , electric vehicle charging points , showers for cyclists and cycle racks , rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse , water and energy economizing gadgets , real time energy monitoring , centralized vacuum system and use of ventilated facades with high performance glass .
The AQUA-HQE Certification for Sustainable Buildings , granted by the Vanzolini Foundation evaluates the environmental quality of a building in 14 categories . Performance in each category is classified as good ( minimum acceptable level ), superior ( corresponding to best practices level ) and excellent ( based on the maximum performances found in Sustainable Developments ). The building was certified in the execution phase achieving excellent performance in six categories , superior in six and good in two categories . Two AQUA categories are concerned with the construction phase , Category 2 - Integrated selection of Products , Systems and Construction Processes and Category 3 - Low Environmental Impact Construction Sites .
Implementation , Monitoring and Learning of Sustainable Practice on Jobsite Initially , a selective deconstruction plan in order to remove the former headquarters and guarantee optimal valorization of materials and minimization of impacts was elaborated . All electrical and air conditioning equipment , frames , railings , removable liners , lamps and lighting fixtures , switches / sockets , etc . were donated to employees and NGO ’ S . The remaining wood was sent to a ceramic industry for heat energy generation , plastic and glass was recycled by cooperatives . The waste masonry , slabs , mortar , blocks , floors , etc . went to a recycling company for the production of aggregates . 24.4 % of the construction waste aggregate was used in the basement floor of the building , replacing natural aggregates thus preventing the need to extract new resources and reducing waste disposal in landfills .
From the viewpoint of consumption , a materials selection policy was adopted based on performance criteria guaranteed through appropriate certification , durability , life cycle concepts , distance ( privileging materials produced within a 300 km radius ) and ease of maintenance , which was monitored by a spreadsheet . Training of the materials procurement staff and workers on respective policies was required . Practices to reduce energy and water consumption were implanted such as using energy and water efficient equipment and appliances , insertion of procedures for switching off gadgets as well as the energy and water supply at the end of each day , and monthly monitoring of energy and water consumption . These guidelines were also passed on to the subcontractors and suppliers of equipment . Figure 1 presents water and energy consumption indicators , showing that despite the high progress of construction from June to September 2013 ,
Deployment of sustainable practices on construction sites 425