Mick Rich Contractors Inc., an Albuquerque-based commercial building contractor, has completed construction of its Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority (SSCAFFCA) office building expansion project.
The expansion includes a one-story 4,415 square-foot addition to the existing government office in Rio Rancho. It features a 13,000-gallon cistern system to collect the buildings’ rainwater for irrigation and a 16kw photovoltaic shade structure array that will provide power for the expansion.
These features are part of the objective of becoming platinum-level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.
To meet LEED certification requirements, 75 percent of all waste from the site must be recycled and 20 percent of all installed materials must be made of recycled content. Also, all paints, adhesives and composite wood items must have a low volatile organic compound content, meaning they are low on environmentally harmful solvents.
The Forest Stewardship Council has certified all the wood framing material used on the project, which is also one step closer to LEED certification.
The LEED applications for design and construction will be submitted for the certification process in mid-February.