With the economy picking up, many stalled government contracts are reaching completion and earning their green credentials. A typical example: 50 United Nations Plaza, in San Francisco. Originally built in 1936, the $121 million renovation—financed from ARRA stimulus funds—is on the way to becoming the first General Services Administration historic renovation to achieve LEED Platinum. The 350,000-sf building will become GSA’s Region 9 headquarters.
Other federal projects are a bit more offbeat. For example, the newest land port of entry in the U.S. (there are 167), designed by Julie Snow Architects, opened earlier this year in Van Buren, Maine. The 46,516-sf facility should gain LEED Gold certification, thanks to its highly efficient glazing and curtain wall, geothermal heating/cooling, zoned lighting, LED fixtures, occupancy sensors, and solar hot water system.
The port of entry, which replaced a flood-damaged facility, is responsible for 160 miles of the border with Canada. To balance security with surveillance capability, the main work areas are largely clad in glass fritted with a silk-screen pattern that provides both camouflage and glare protection.
WHERE GREEN (NOT ORANGE) IS THE NEW BLACK
Balancing security with sustainability, the Building Team for the 532,147-sf Wake County Detention Center, Raleigh, N.C., earned LEED Silver honors. The facility, which can hold 1,152 inmates, also houses city/county offices and a courtroom. Sustainable features include LED lighting, high-efficiency plumbing (saving 282,000 gal/year), and condensate recovery (another six million gal/yr in water savings).
Ten-hut! AEC firms fall in for military service
The Defense Department is a rich source of revenue for AEC firms like HDR Architecture and Mortenson Construction, which have teamed up on the design-build of a $94.9 million barracks complex for the 13th Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colo. The trio of four-story apartment buildings, totaling 370,156 gsf, will be built to LEED Gold standards. Solar walls, solar hot water panels, and PV arrays—which will generate a fourth of the annual energy needs for the building—will make the complex net-zero-energy ready.
At the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., the JV design-build team Walbridge/Brasfield & Gorrie has completed the 151,450-sf Naval Exchange and 500-space parking structure. Constructed to antiterrorism/force protection standards, it replaced a much smaller 20-year-old exchange.
Designed by CMH Architects to LEED Gold levels, the Bethesda NEX was built partially into a hillside to take advantage of the earth’s insulating capabilities. A 53,000-sf green roof and extensive stormwater management system provide 11,200 cubic feet of rainwater harvesting. The exchange offers military families grocery and other retail stores, plus a dry cleaner, pharmacy, spa, wine shop, credit union, florist, food court, and optical center.
In Iowa, a new state penitentiary for 800 offenders nearing completion in Fort Madison represents a fundamental shift by the state corrections department toward more humane treatment of prisoners—including more environmentally friendly design.
The 475,000-sf facility uses a thousand or so geothermal wells to provide independent heating/cooling to its eight units. Ample daylighting is provided to inmate cells through a mechanical chase that acts as a tempered buffer zone to the unusually large cell windows.
“From a security viewpoint, this ‘back zone’ allowed us to reduce the thickness of the glass, which saved a lot of money,” says Michael Morman, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Architect/Project Manager with Shive-Hattery, architect/engineer on the $132 million project. (Also on the Building Team: TOK, owner’s rep; HOK, design architect/engineer; Venture, AOR; The Weidt Group, utility partner; PBA, detention specialist; and the Walsh Group, GC.) “That allowed more windows, more daylighting, and easier maintenance, to get rid of the Alcatraz look.”
To control stormwater on the 42-acre site, the Building Team devised a catchment system that carries runoff to vaults and discharges it under the fence through eight-inch-diameter pipes, making a “Shawshank Redemption” escape impossible. The new prison, which will open early next year, is set to earn Gold under the LEED Campus (v2.2) program.
AIA COTE HONORS—AND MORE
The Hawkeye State is also home to one of the nation’s most energy-efficient new buildings, the Iowa Utilities Board/Office of Consumer Advocate Building, in Des Moines. The 44,500-sf office building not only made LEED Platinum, but also hit an Energy Star rating of 100 on the way to garnering a Top 10 Green Project from the AIA Committee on the Environment.
The $10 million, double-wing building, which opened in March, is projected to have an energy use of 28.0 kBtu/sf/year. Sustainable features include operable windows, six acres of native prairie restoration, stormwater management, water use reduction of 46%, and 12.5% of total energy use supplied by roof-mounted PVs.
Not to be outdone, the City and County of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission recently earned LEED Platinum for its new 13-story, 277,500-sf office building. The $146.5 million project won a Top Ten Plus Project Inaugural Award from AIA COTE. Its carbon footprint is half that of comparable buildings, due in part to a sculpted façade which channels air toward wind turbines that provide power to the building.
Related Stories
Smart Buildings | Apr 7, 2023
Carnegie Mellon University's research on advanced building sensors provokes heated controversy
A research project to test next-generation building sensors at Carnegie Mellon University provoked intense debate over the privacy implications of widespread deployment of the devices in a new 90,000-sf building. The light-switch-size devices, capable of measuring 12 types of data including motion and sound, were mounted in more than 300 locations throughout the building.
Affordable Housing | Apr 7, 2023
Florida’s affordable housing law expected to fuel multifamily residential projects
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed into law affordable housing legislation that includes $711 million for housing programs and tax breaks for developers. The new law will supersede local governments’ zoning, density, and height requirements.
Energy Efficiency | Apr 7, 2023
Department of Energy makes $1 billion available for states, local governments to upgrade building codes
The U.S. Department of Energy is offering funding to help state and local governments upgrade their building codes to boost energy efficiency. The funding will support improved building codes that reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency, according to DOE.
Steel Buildings | Apr 6, 2023
2023 AISC Forge Prize winner envisions the gas station of the future
Forge Prize winner LVL (Level) Studio envisions a place where motorists can relax, work, play, shop, or perhaps even get healthcare while their vehicles charge.
Architects | Apr 6, 2023
New tool from Perkins&Will will make public health data more accessible to designers and architects
Called PRECEDE, the dashboard is an open-source tool developed by Perkins&Will that draws on federal data to identify and assess community health priorities within the U.S. by location. The firm was recently awarded a $30,000 ASID Foundation Grant to enhance the tool.
Architects | Apr 6, 2023
Design for belonging: An introduction to inclusive design
The foundation of modern, formalized inclusive design can be traced back to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The movement has developed beyond the simple rules outlined by ADA regulations resulting in features like mothers’ rooms, prayer rooms, and inclusive restrooms.
Market Data | Apr 6, 2023
JLL’s 2023 Construction Outlook foresees growth tempered by cost increases
The easing of supply chain snags for some product categories, and the dispensing with global COVID measures, have returned the North American construction sector to a sense of normal. However, that return is proving to be complicated, with the construction industry remaining exceptionally busy at a time when labor and materials cost inflation continues to put pricing pressure on projects, leading to caution in anticipation of a possible downturn. That’s the prognosis of JLL’s just-released 2023 U.S. and Canada Construction Outlook.
Cladding and Facade Systems | Apr 5, 2023
Façade innovation: University of Stuttgart tests a ‘saturated building skin’ for lessening heat islands
HydroSKIN is a façade made with textiles that stores rainwater and uses it later to cool hot building exteriors. The façade innovation consists of an external, multilayered 3D textile that acts as a water collector and evaporator.
Market Data | Apr 4, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending up 0.4% in February 2023
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.4% in February, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $982.2 billion for the month, up 16.8% from the previous year.
Sustainability | Apr 4, 2023
ASHRAE releases Building Performance Standards Guide
Building Performance Standards (BPS): A Technical Resource Guide was created to provide a technical basis for policymakers, building owners, practitioners and other stakeholders interested in developing and implementing a BPS policy. The publication is the first in a series of seven guidebooks by ASHRAE on building decarbonization.