When James and Brook Schwartz, owners of CONCRETEWORKS Design out of Norman, Okla., got into the decorative concrete business in 1995, acid stain floors were all the rage. The company still specializes in that application today, but over the years as James and Brook learned about environmentally friendly products they began using more water-based and low-VOC products and materials whenever possible.

So when the couple sat down to plan their new company headquarters, they made a point to make greener choices when they could. The result is a 4,000-sq.-ft. design facility and showroom with 9,000 sq. ft. of decorative concrete on the property. The building is in the process of being certified through the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program and through Green Globes, a green certification program managed by the Green Building Initiative.

James, who is currently pursuing a degree in architecture and who designed the building and the green aspects that went into it, says, "I didn't really do anything that different or difficult to build this building. Green construction was something I was interested in - I read about green building and took some extra steps. I would think all and all, the building cost us 5 to 7% more to construct just by going through these type of guidelines."

Schwartz says he expects to recoup that extra 5 to 7% within eight years.

The LEED checklist
The LEED system is based on points. Building certification is accomplished when a building earns a certain number of points for one of four levels - Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. James expects the CONCRETEWORKS headquarters to achieve a Certified rating.

When designing the building, Schwartz followed the sections in the LEED project checklist to find what he could do to earn points. For example, the first topic in the checklist is Sustainable Sites. "USGBC likes you to be situated near a certain level of density, near a community or city so employees and customers won't have to drive so far and burn fossil fuels," Schwartz explains.