Former gym gets fit with green makeover

SALT LAKE CITY — The new office building of Architectural Nexus in Salt Lake's eastern foothills is a veritable cache of the latest and greatest in sustainable technology.

Located in a remodeled office building that for a while served as a Bally Total Fitness gym, the structure at 2505 E. Parleys Way has been transformed from an aging concrete block structure to a multi-dimensional, gas and steel building that could be among the first in the city to reach the highest possible certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The kicker? After tax rebates, all the sustainable improvements to the 52-year-old structure will cost just 5 percent more than a conventional renovation would have, and even those costs will be repaid in energy savings within the first decade, Architectural Nexus President Donald T. Finlayson said during a Deseret News tour of the facility.

The renovation is centered on natural light. Automatic dimmers work with the rising and falling sun to provide daylight to 75 percent of the building. In addition, solar panels atop the blinding white roof provide all of the electricity the facility needs.

In sum, the building once used the energy of 15 houses, but it is now completely self-sustaining.

"Architects are trained to know how to make a difference in the environment by what we do," Finlayson said. "It's very different when you're doing it for yourself."

The Architectural Nexus building is but the latest of several structures built or remodeled in metropolitan Utah with sustainability in mind. The trend started about 15 years ago with widespread fears of decreasing energy availability from traditional sources. Already, the face of architecture has changed permanently, said Al Medina, director of the National Association of Realtors Green REsource council.

Utah Green Building Council board member Chamonix Larsen, herself an architect, hopes that soon the phrase "green building" will go away because every construction project will include environmental goals.

Utah taxpayers are currently saving between 20 percent and 40 percent on energy costs for new "green" public buildings, she said.

For Architectural Nexus, 2010 was the perfect time to purchase and renovate a building rather than continue leasing in Sugar House. In addition to saving on labor because of the recession, the firm saved 20 percent in building costs and now has 20 percent more space, Finlayson said.

The firm is hoping to achieve a platinum rating from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It makes good business sense, Finlayson said, because clients visiting the building will get a first-hand look at all of the green options available.