May 4th, 2007
Midstate Electric Building #1 in the State
The new Midstate Electric headquarters in LaPine placed first in the Commercial ICF (Insulating Concrete Forms) division at the annual Excellence in Concrete Awards banquet held recently in Portland.
The Midstate Electric building is approximately 13,000 square feet and is located in LaPine, Oregon. It is the first Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified commercial structure in Central Oregon. Two key factors that made the building qualify for the LEED gold certificationare the ICF wals (highly energy efficient and made with recycled materials) and the high fly-ash content in the concrete mix. Fly ash is a cementitious material made from post-industrial waste. This wall system alone is estimated to save Midstate approximately 50% in its heating and cooling expense - month after month, year after year.
Part of earning LEED certification includes using products that are manufactured locally to cut down on the environmental burden of long haul transportation. "We used an ICF form that is manufactured in Oregon, and partnered with members of the non-profit organization Building Green Council (BGC) of Central Oregon including the General Contractor and ICF supplier to takle this exciting challenge," said Darwin Thurston, Midstate's operations and engineering manager.
This project was featured in the first annual "Central Oregon Commercial Green Building Summit", which drew over 100 of the regions leading architects, engineers and contractors.
