Last week, the city of San Francisco announced the grand opening of the Greenest Urban Office Building in North America. The new San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Building (SFPUC) boasts new Living Machine technology, as well as LEED Platinum standards.
The 13-floor building can hold around 900 people, but consumes 60% less water and 32% less energy than most buildings of its kind. The building can achieve these high levels of conservation due it its on-site grey and black water treatment.
The technology for this treatment, The Living Machine, reclaims and treats all of the building’s wastewater– meeting the demand for all of the buildings toilets. The Living Machine can treat 5,000 gallons of water daily, reducing per-person water use from 12 to five gallons. The building also has a rainwater harvesting system that can store up to 250,000 gallons of water annually for use in the building’s irrigation systems.
As far as power goes, the building uses a greenhouse gas-free power from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, but also has an integrated hybrid solar array as well as a wind turbine that can generation about seven percent of the building’s annual energy needs.
The building was designed with a raised flooring system to house its data and ventilation infrastructure that also reduces heating, cooling and ventilation costs by over half. They also plan to do the more simple things, like automatically shut off workstation power after business hours, use more sustainable building materials, and limit parking to encourage alternative transportation among employees.
“The unique hybrid wind-solar installation combined with the use of onsite, recycled wastewater makes 525 Golden Gate one of the most self-sustaining buildings anywhere in the world,” said SFPUC General Manager Ed Harrington as part of the announcement. “We did not spare any detail to demonstrate the water-saving and energy efficiency revolution that all of us must start to embrace.”
However, the building cost the city a whopping $146.5 million– which brings back the argument between building new energy efficient buildings, or spending the money to make the ones we already have perform better. There isn’t a right answer, what’s probably best is for there to be a combination of the two– a new building should be built to high energy standards, but some time and resources should be taken to reboot the clunky power-wasters that remain in every city.
Employees are set to move in to their new space in July and August, and the building is set to be on track for its Platinum LEED ranking within a year of operation. The SFPUC estimates that building and owning its new headquarters will allow the department to save residents around $3.7 billion over the expected 100 year life of the building. +
--
Beth Carter is a contributing editor for SmartPlanet.
Related Stories
| Dec 3, 2013
Creating a healthcare capital project plan: The truth behind the numbers
When setting up a capital project plan, it's one thing to have the data, but quite another to have the knowledge of the process.
| Dec 3, 2013
Architects urge government to reform design-build contracting process
Current federal contracting laws are discouraging talented architects from competing for federal contracts, depriving government and, by inference, taxpayers of the best design expertise available, according to AIA testimony presented today on Capitol Hill.
| Dec 3, 2013
Construction spending hits four-year peak after rare spike in public outlays
An unusual surge in public construction in October pushed total construction spending to its highest level since May 2009 despite a dip in both private residential and nonresidential activity.
| Nov 27, 2013
BIG's 'oil and vinegar' design wins competition for the Museum of the Human Body [slideshow]
The winning submission by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and A+ Architecture mixes urban pavement and parkland in a flowing, organic plan, like oil and vinegar, explains Bjarke Ingels.
| Nov 27, 2013
Retail renaissance: What's next?
The retail construction category, long in the doldrums, is roaring back to life. Send us your comments and projects as we prepare coverage for this exciting sector.
| Nov 27, 2013
Pediatric hospitals improve care with flexible, age-sensitive design
Pediatric hospitals face many of the same concerns as their adult counterparts. Inpatient bed demand is declining, outpatient visits are soaring, and there is a higher level of focus on prevention and reduced readmissions.
| Nov 27, 2013
Exclusive survey: Revenues increased at nearly half of AEC firms in 2013
Forty-six percent of the respondents to an exclusive BD+C survey of AEC professionals reported that revenues had increased this year compared to 2012, with another 24.2% saying cash flow had stayed the same.
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
| Nov 27, 2013
University reconstruction projects: The 5 keys to success
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the environmental, economic, and market pressures affecting facility planning for universities and colleges, and outlines current approaches to renovations for critical academic spaces.
| Nov 26, 2013
7 ways to make your firm more successful
Like all professional services businesses, AEC firms are challenged to effectively manage people. And even though people can be rather unpredictable, a firm’s success doesn’t have to be. Here are seven ways to make your firm more successful in the face of market variability and uncertainty.
