LIHU‘E — There was never a question about whether the new Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union headquarters building would be an environmentally friendly, or “green,” building, KCFCU leaders said this week. It will cost around 7 percent to 9 percent
LIHU‘E — There was never a question about whether the new Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union headquarters building would be an environmentally friendly, or “green,” building, KCFCU leaders said this week.
It will cost around 7 percent to 9 percent more to make it so, but it is worth the investment, said Mel Chiba, KCFCU president and chief executive officer.
Ground was broken Monday at Kukui Grove Village West on the parcel that will be KCFCU’s home by fall 2010, a 21,394-square-foot, two-story facility that will generate 10 percent of its electricity through photovoltaic panels.
Stormwater will be treated in a natural bioswale, the building will use up to 20 percent recycled content, and half of the construction waste will be diverted away from the landfill, said Charles Kaneshiro of Group 70 International, Inc., the building architect.
The new KCFCU building will be the first credit union and first financial institution in Hawai‘i to be gold LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) as a green building, Kaneshiro said.
That means the building and site will have to score between 60 and 79 points on the LEED scale, where building projects earn LEED points for satisfying specific green building criteria, like being a sustainable site, achieving water and energy efficiency, indoor environmental category and other criteria.
“It is a credit to KCFCU to design this way,” Kaneshiro said.
From a design standpoint, the building will reflect old Hawai‘i, with a symmetrical roof and formal entry that will create “a stately, elegant building without being ostentatious,” Kaneshiro said.
The intention is to create an open, airy, sunlit entry lobby that is “straightforward, honest, warm, welcoming,” he said.
Symbolically, “this is a place for you,” he said. The workers are part of the larger community, and KCFCU’s decision to go green shows leadership “in the sense of response to the community and environment,” Kaneshiro said.
Chiba said KCFCU has owned the land for nine years and was in a position to be able to wait for favorable economic conditions before building. The building will cost between $10 million and $20 million.
With occupancy of the new building, KCFCU will sell its annex building on Hardy Street (across ‘Elua Street from the current KCFCU headquarters), and the Kukui Grove Commercial Village branch, Chiba said.
The construction will pump money into the economy, said Chiba.
Shaun Keep of Resort Construction Managers, Inc. said 75 to 100 people will be working on the project over the 12 to 14 months of construction, and that hiring local subcontractors and local workers is “very important to all of us.”
Chiba said the administration offices will occupy the second floor of the new building, with the first floor a full-service credit union. There will be two drive-through remote tellers and automated teller machine locations on the site, said Chiba, who has been with KCFCU for 35 years, joining as an assistant manager right out of college when KCFCU was six employees strong.
Today, there are five branches from Waimea to Kapa‘a, over 75 employees and over $300 million in assets.
There will be underground and above-ground parking, said Chiba, who during his formal remarks acknowledged the presence of charter members Billy Fernandes and George Oshita. “They’ve been with us all the time,” Chiba said.
Walton Hong, KCFCU board chair, said the new facility has been a “long time coming,” and recalled in 1972 when he moved from O‘ahu that the leaders of KCFCU asked them if they wanted to lease space in the KCFCU Hardy Street location.
Hong and partner George Masuoka declined, having taken over the practice of the late Morris Shinsato with offices above City Liquor on Rice Street in Lihu‘e. At that time, KCFCU was one of Masuoka & Hong’s clients.
The space originally offered to Masuoka & Hong is now the offices of Chiba and other officers. “There just ain’t enough room,” Hong said of the need for the new facility, which will serve KCFCU into the foreseeable future.
Hong said he hopes that, in 35 years, someone will get up and say they remember 2009 when the new building site was blessed, talking about KCFCU again outgrowing its facilities and in need of something even bigger.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
