Stafford Featured in Real Estate Weekly
Stafford Associates Computer Specialists Inc., an IT consulting, Internet service provider and network installation company, is bringing its new corporate headquarters to the historic town of East Setauket on the north shore of Long Island.
The project involves the construction of a new 30,000 s/f building with office space and a state of the art data center. The building is pursuing a LEED Silver certification.
“The aesthetics of the building were a consideration from the project conception” said Eugene F. Stafford, VP of Stafford Associates.
“Our goals are to construct a professional office building that blends into the historic downtown while achieving an environmentally sound and green design. It is easy to put up a rectangular, commercial building, they are very common. It is more of a challenge to develop a design that is LEED certifiable and financially possible”
Ken Stafford, COO of Stafford Associates, has taken a very active role in this project. He regularly attends the project meetings and monitors the progress of the building. “From the start, we knew we wanted a green building. “ Kenny said “This has been an excellent learning experience for me and our company. Our consultants have played a major role in breaking down the complexities of the design so everyone can understand the direction we are headed in.”
A unique feature of the building will be the fully compliant state of the art PCI (payment card industry data security standard) Data Center.
Major credit card companies have made it mandatory for merchants and credit card processors to meet the strict network security rules that went into effect in 2005.
Compliance with these rules has not been wide spread. Recent breaches in security, have forced credit card companies to take immediate action and in the process prevented some large volume companies from processing credit cards until new security rules have been met. “Being the first PCI certified company in the Metropolitan area presents a tremendous opportunity for our company as it enables us to host data from companies not currently certified” said Stafford.
Green buildings are becoming more common on Long Island. ”Long Island is a widespread market and there are only about a dozen or so LEED certified buildings. It’s very encouraging to see private companies like Stafford making the commitment to green design,” said Tony Musumeci, P.E. LEED AP, Partner and co founder of Emtec Consulting Engineers, the MEP and fire protection engineers for the project.
Emtec, which has offices on Long Island and Manhattan, play a large role in the energy efficiency of the building. As an energy star partner, Emtec approaches all projects using them most efficient and sustainable solutions available.
Musumeci added, “Buildings operating 24/7 demand the best energy efficiency possible to be cost effective. During the design phases of a LEED Silver goal project, it is important to understand the energy impacts of various system options and their incremental construction cost impact.”
The energy usage in building plays a significant role in CO2 emissions in the USA and globally. Two very important elements within the LEED rating system for Core and Shell Development are minimum energy usage and optimization of energy performance.
“By minimizing the building’s energy usage and optimizing energy performance, we can achieve the largest reductions in building sourced CO2 emissions, “said Robin Mosley, PE LEED AP, who is a senior engineer at Emtec.
“To gain significant savings, we examine natural ventilation strategies, high efficiency equipment, energy recovery, advanced control strategies, efficient lighting and daylight harvesting.”
Emtec is considering an open loop geothermal system for this project. This kind of system would extract ground water form a local aquifer to supply extremely efficient heat pumps within the building. “By means of an integrated design team approach, we can greatly enhance the buildings energy performance, indoor air quality and maintain comfort levels, without a significant increase in initial costs. “ said Mosley.
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