DALLAS, Texas – USAA Real Estate, along with its development partner Seefried Industrial Properties, are nearing completion of a 161,000-square-foot industrial development in Dallas-Fort Worth, one of the first warehouses to be built using sustainable building materials.
By using sustainable materials, the project aims to reduce the carbon footprint of its construction by more than 45%, which is equivalent to a car’s emissions during more than two million miles of travel.
The warehouse is located within the 157-acre Southfield Park 35 industrial precinct, located on 8.7 acres of land near Danieldale and Old Hickory Rd. In southern Dallas County, south of Interstate 20.
Instead of the typical sloping concrete slabs, the industrial warehouse was constructed using Cross-Laminated Timber, a precision engineered wood product. By using this wood, rather than steel and concrete, the project’s carbon-intensive construction process is reduced by about half. Each CLT board is built up to 132second abbreviation inches within specifications.
The warehouse’s 60-foot-high CLT panels originate from a forest in British Columbia, Canada that is closely regulated by federal authorities. The authorities allow only 1% of the available wood to be planted and require two trees to be planted for each one that is cut down.
The property’s CLT material is complemented by MEGASLAB concrete systems, a mixture specific to building slab and site paving that is low on cement while maintaining durability and strength. Traditional construction methods center on the use of concrete, which produces 8% of global carbon emissions annually.
“In line with our ambition to be more creative about reducing the environmental impact of our development projects, we make use of sustainable resources harvested in a sustainable way,” stated Lang Allen, managing director at USAA Real Estate. “In addition to the significantly lower carbon footprint of CLT, tenants will recognize that the material is aesthetically superior to the traditional steel and concrete design of ’tilted up’ walls, as well as the related energy efficiency operational benefits that CLT provides.”
“This property has the potential to set a new precedent for sustainable warehouse construction,” said Josh Hollum, director of construction management for USAA Real Estate. “Together with the huge market demand for warehouse products, tenants have a strong and growing appetite for building solutions that have these environmental attributes.”
“Being part of a pilot project that strictly focuses on the use of sustainably harvested wood and environmentally friendly materials is significant in our market with promising scope for future growth,” says Jonathan Stitts, Senior Vice President at Seefried Properties. “We are proud to lead the construction of a project that uses CLT and MEGASLAB systems, ensuring structural safety and well-being in the workplace and reducing greenhouse gases.”
Chris Tisdale and Tom Pearson of Colliers International were retained to market the project.