Consulting Firm Formed by Team that Helped Create World's Greenest Building Celebrates Successful First Year
Vertegy’s expertise has already played a key role in 12 additional sustainable projects
St. Louis, Mo., April 6, 2006…Thomas Taylor, a long-time executive with Alberici Constructors, formed Vertegy as a subsidiary of Alberici after his team helped put the company on the green-building map with its new headquarters in Overland, Mo. The building, which is today recognized as the greenest building in the world, has been certified Platinum under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating system, earning 60 points, the highest credit level awarded to date worldwide by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The success of the project encouraged Taylor to create a firm exclusively focused on helping others enjoy the benefits of a sustainable building approach. Now, just one year later, Vertegy has captured its own spot as a leader in the green building movement, having helped 12 additional companies, including seven in St. Louis, pursue their goals of achieving varying levels of LEED certification.
“We put everything we had into making Alberici’s headquarters the most efficient, comfortable and sustainable environment possible,” stated Taylor. “We knew we had the opportunity to do it right and we set out to achieve the Platinum certification from the beginning. We quickly realized our experiences with the Alberici project could serve as an advantageous tool for other companies seeking LEED certification.”
Today, Vertegy works with a variety of clients that are renovating existing buildings or constructing new facilities of varying types, from school facilities to manufacturing plants to commercial office buildings. The client typically is the building owner/developer, the architect, or even the construction firm handling the project.
The company engages on projects in different ways, collaborating with the architect to help get clients/owners committed to building green; working directly with general contractors to accelerate them through the learning curve of effectively constructing sustainable buildings and, in some cases, providing totally integrated LEED-related services, including design integration, design/build management, teaming charrettes, energy modeling, documentation, coordination and submission.
In addition to the Alberici headquarters, among the local projects Vertegy has worked on to help them achieve LEED registration and/or certification are the Security Building in downtown St. Louis, one of the few LEED registered buildings on the National Registry of Historic Buildings; Centocor Biologics’ 46,000 sq. ft. office building; St. Louis Community College’s new West County Campus; and the William A. Kerr Foundation offices. The firm also has provided services for projects in other parts of the country, including Northland Pines High School in Eagle River, Wisc., and the Missouri Hall renovation at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo.
The various projects that Vertegy has worked on incorporate a number of unique and innovative design elements, including rainwater catchment systems that use rainwater for sewage conveyance, waterless urinals, motorized operable windows for cooling, the use of natural light for warming and minimizing electrical consumption, reuse of existing buildings and products to avoid landfill material, wind turbines, and even recycled denim jeans used for wall insulation. The end result is more comfortable, healthier and resourceful facilities that are actually less expensive to operate.
“A company can build an environmentally-friendly building without added cost, especially if they’re thinking green from the onset,” added Taylor. “The cost efficiencies continue for the life of the building as green buildings have lower operational costs. We anticipate continued growth in our business as more and more companies seek out the environmental and financial benefits of sustainable projects.”
Founded in February 2005, Vertegy provides clients with design, procurement and construction consulting services for green and sustainable facilities. Vertegy’s primary focus is to serve clients who seek LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Vertegy — which is derived from combining the Latin root for green and strategy — is based in St. Louis at the new LEED Platinum Alberici headquarters. For more information, call 314.733.2666.
