Demountable Tape
Frank Little
W. Frank Little; AIA, NCARB, ASID, with a M.S. in Architecture
Tax Law; is President and founder of Tax Advantage Design and
Construction™ (TAD™)
with projects totaling over $7 Billion for Fortune 500 companies.
With no increase in construction cost, his patented methods and green products
qualify a project for government tax benefits equal to 8 to 12% of the total
construction cost—more than enough to fund earth saving Green/LEED
initiatives.
Frank Little was schooled under AIA Gold Medal winner Fay Jones, who apprenticed under Frank Lloyd Wright. While Fay Jones and Frank Wright described their Green Architecture as “organic”, their respect for nature laid a foundation for today’s sustainable Green architects. Among these is Frank Little. After 6 years with Art Gensler, FAIA, he formed his own architecture practice. Mr. Little designed his award winning International Paper project so its elements can be “removed and reused” rather than demolished and sent to a landfill. He did this in a manner that created a tax benefit equal to 16.2% of the construction cost. A case study on this project prompted a new area of research—academically coined “Architectural Tax Law” and marketed today as “Tax Advantaged Design and Construction™ or TAD™”. At the invitation of Walter Windler, then Dean at Texas A&M University, and with the recommendations of Fay Jones, FAIA and Art Gensler, FAIA, Mr. Little obtained academic credentials for his knowledge with a M.S. in Architecture, Tax Law /major emphasis. Thereafter, a “Big Six” accounting firm purchased a limited license to distribute part of his new service through their network. Here, his work obtained acceptance by the IRS, and the Fortune 500 community. He obtained the endorsement of the former head of the Tax Division of the Dept. of Justice and the favor of the staff with Attorney General Janet Reno. The reason for their favor was the environmental benefits and true business purpose of TAD™.
The facility, environmental, and tax benefits were contingent upon an affordable site built demountable wall system. Therefore, Mr. Little invented and perfected a method to attach gypsum sheathing wall-board so it can be demounted and reused rather than demolished and placed in a landfill where it creates poison hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) --drywall makes up 27% of the waste in construction landfills according to NAHB and it becomes toxic waste! He later invented a special patent pending drywall joint tape (Green-Zip-Tape™) to facilitate his patented method. The demountable-reusable Green-Zip-Wall™ is the “threshold event” necessary to qualify other elements such as doors, lights, ceilings, millwork, electrical, etc. for the government cash benefit which is equal to about 20% of the material plus labor cost of each qualifying element.
Mr. Little won a national award for his work sponsored by the AIA Colorado: Sustainable Architecture/Creative & Visionary Project winner, he also received HL&P’s “Energy Conservation of the Year Award” which used passive solar to obtain lowest utility cost—this project also won a Metropolitan Home magazine design award. Recently his work has won additional patents and it has been selected as a winner in the EPA and AIA sponsored Lifecycle Building Challenge.
The demountable Green-Zip-Tape and wall is reported to provide a LEED credit for innovation—perhaps the only LEED credit that adds no cost; and, certainly the only service/product with sufficient first-year pay-back to fund “all” the other LEED initiatives. While LEED unquestionably provides financial return in energy savings, its acceptance has been encumbered by the long pay back periods—until now! Who would have thought this formidable obstacle would be overcome by a humble Green-Zip-Tape™.
See more at www.TaxAdvantageDesign.com;
