burn is mixed into concrete, some of which was poured
into the floors of Vanguard’s new facility, allowing the
company to complete a full circle in regard to recycling.
Construction for the new 380,000-square-foot underground facility began a year ago, and the company moved
in the first week of February.
Lead By Example
Manufacturing companies aren’t the only ones leading
by example when it comes to implementing and demonstrating the benefits of sustainable efforts. Communities
and organizations across the country are reusing, retrofitting and redeveloping assets ranging from businesses
parks to bunkers.
“In our entire community there has been a big move-
ment underway for quite some time to try to be on the
cutting edge of sustainability,” says Jamie Grayson-
Berglund, director of community development, Greater
Omaha Chamber, and who also oversees the Destination
Midtown, and South Omaha Development Project initia-
tives. “Our young professional community in particular
is chomping at the bit to make Omaha known for this.”
In April, the finishing touches were being put in place
at the Midtown Crossing at Turner Park in Omaha. The
development is a LEED Neighborhood Development
pilot project.
“The interesting thing about this project is that it is a
$325 million investment and it all went up at once, not
one building at a time,” Grayson says. “As a part of a
redevelopment study in 2003, one of the participants,
Mutual of Omaha, wanted to determine how it could
maximize the use of the land it had under control and
of the marginal uses surrounding its property. Mutual of
Omaha wanted to make a big impression all at once and
help Omaha change its thought process on urban living.”
Former surface parking lots comprise the 15-acre
Midtown Crossing at Turner Park, which feature seven
different buildings that are seven and eight stories high.
The development features just over 1 million square feet
of mixed-use space; 220,000 square feet of retail space;
and 300 units of condominiums and 200 units of apart-
ments. The park space in the development, the focal
point of the project, is now double in size, featuring
open green space, sidewalks and pedestrian-scale light-
ing. A three-lane, one-way road has been converted to
two-lane traffic, with one lane set aside for possible use
by a trolley line.
Moving west in Nebraska to Hastings, developer Prairie
Bunkers is promoting the reuse of 184 bunkers that can
be custom designed to support data center activities,
such as those required by cloud computing organizations,
government agencies, and financial services.
The bunkers were formerly home to the country’s
largest naval ammunition depot, built to support the
World War II effort. The bunkers are 5,000 square feet
each, four feet above ground and bermed over the top.
They feature 12-inch poured in placed concrete reinforced every one-and-a-half inches with rebar.
