Mary Tappouni, President of Breaking Ground Contracting, accepted the Associated Builders and  Contractors National Pyramid Award for the Breaking Ground Contracting Office Renovation, a project on track for LEED Platinum certification. The National Pyramid Award recognizes outstanding performance in the areas of complexity, attractiveness, innovativeness, safety and cost and has come to represent the standard for recognizing outstanding construction projects across the nation. Congratulations to the design and construction team on this project!

Breaking Ground Contracting will be doing $1.3 million of renovations at the city of Jacksonville’s Ed Ball Building. The company received a building permit Feb. 3 for renovations to the basement, the first, fifth and sixth floors of the Downtown office building at 214 Hogan St. N.

The permit lists TTV Architects, Inc.  of Jacksonville as the architect.

For more information on the project, contact the Jacksonville contractor at (904) 388-1350; for information on the company, visit its website.

For a story on Breaking Ground’s two-year renovation of its own headquarters, including installing a garden and 51 solar panels on the roof, click here.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — When Steve Wyman saw this view of the Guana Preserve he knew it was where he wanted to build his dream home. After talking to a number of contractors, and ironing out the design, he’s finally on his way to reality.”Passive solar houses have always been an area of interest for me. It wasn’t until I retired, that I now have the time go build it,” he said.A passive solar house isn’t just any old home. They originated in Germany and are slowly gaining popularity here in the U.S. The philosophy is centered around the concept that homes should require little to no energy for heating and cooling.

In a nutshell, the home heats and cools itself with solar panels, electrical appliances, lighting and human occupancy. In result, energy consumption is reduced by up to 90 percent.

“Saving energy helps people with their bottom line, it helps people with their everyday and it makes life better not only financially, but from a comfort perspective,” Mary Tappouni said.

Wyman says the goal is to keep the entire build under a million dollars and preserve the neighboring trees. Tappouni, President of Breaking Ground Contracting, says she’s confident the home will be done right and that it will serve as an example for years to come.

“I do think they’ll be a model for not only Florida but for the country,” she said.

After the permits are obtained in February, it’s smooth sailing from there. Wyman and his family plan to be in their brand new home by Christmas 2012.

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Remodeled Highway Avenue building is to be a learning lab for sustainable construction.

By Kevin Turner

For Mary Tappouni and the employees of Breaking Ground Contracting Co. a remodeling has transformed the company’s headquarters into a dream — a showcase of green construction.

On Monday, the centerpiece of the remodeling went into place in the form of 51 solar panels and a rooftop garden that will be watered only by rain and condensation from the building’s air conditioning units. The building, at 4218 Highway Ave., will be Northeast Florida’s only commercial business topped by solar panels and a rooftop garden, Tappouni said. She and her staff plan to move back into their newly-reinvented workplace on Friday.
“We call it a learning lab for the community,” said Catherine Burkee, Breaking Ground director of educational services. “We hope to reach out to children and educators.”

Lessons in biodiversity and habitat can be taught there, Burkee said. The site also will be a place where members of the construction industry can get green building training and actually see what some of those methods look like in place. Visitors and students can ascend a spiral staircase and see the showcase area from a platform constructed near the roof.
The array of solar panels, which were being installed Tuesday by Jacksonville-based SunWorks Solar Systems Inc., will produce 10 kilowatts of electricity, estimated to reduce the business’ electric bills by about 40 percent, Tappouni said. The panels cost $80,000, but the net cost to the business will be $25,000 due to incentives. And within five years, that is expected to be offset in cost savings, she said.

At the other end of the roof is a 1,200-square-foot vegetated area, which will host 100 species of plants include tomatoes, rosemary, mint, grasses and a variety of native plants, said Kevin Songer, green roof designer with Jacksonville-based Metro Verde, a company that specializes in rooftop horticulture.
Tappouni said she’s excited that the project that she and her staff of six have dreamed about for years is now 95 percent complete. “We decided to go with as many strategies as possible,” she said.
Other green construction elements include thick windows to keep the building cool, insulated and secure.
Lights and temperature control are customized for each office space by individual workers, and lights go on when a person walks in a room and off when they leave. Interior walls have no light switches, Tappouni said. There will be a cistern for roof drainage and lattices of chain link that will allow vines to cover them, creating “living walls,” she said.
Breaking Ground does general contracting, sustainable construction, design/build services, construction management, workplace safety training and green construction education.

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