Best of 2008 GreenSmart Awards

We celebrate sustainability in this issue with the Best of 2008 GreenSmart awards. We have four winners that were selected by the judges of the Best of 2008. In all 75 projects were entered in a variety of categories.

Two of the winners, White Stag Blocks, built by Bremik Construction, in Portland and the North Phase Prison Expansion, built by a joint venture of HDR/Turner were multiple winners. A full description of those projects appears in the December 2008 issue.

The two other winners are the Terry Thomas building built by Rafn Co., Bellevue and the Watershed at Hillsdale.

Judges for the awards were: James McGrath, ZGF, designed by William Wilson Architects PC, Portland; Darlene Septelka, Landon Construction Group, Seattle; Gregg Weston, Otak; Yasime Branden, Neil Kelly Co., Portland; James Isaf, Heery Group, Seattle; Phil Kennedy, Andersen Construction, Portland; Richard Robison, Mithun, Seattle and, Lisa Pettersen, SERA Architects, Portland.

Best Sustainable Building – Washington Award of Merit

advertisement

HDR/Turner provided design and construction services on a $131 million integrated single- source design-build project for the Washington State Department of Corrections. The new 270,000 sq ft facility consists of a group of buildings in a "compact campus" style arrangement with related site development and utilities. The expansion provided 768 close custody beds, 100 IMU beds and 98 segregation beds. The buildings included: New Administration Center, Central Control, Housing, Food Service, Recreation, Education, Visitation Center, Medical Unit and Miscellaneous Support Facilities.

The Design-Build Approach

The short turn around on the design and construction of the expansion was not going to be an easy task for any team. The design-build delivery method was chosen because it doesn't skip steps, it saves time. The Washington Department of Corrections worked closely with the HDRITurner team designers and contractors so that design, estimating, permitting and construction occur at the same time, working as a partnership along in the design-build process in planning, procurement, estimating, financing, project controls and construction, among others help meet the aggressive schedule and LEED Certification.

Innovation Brings Challenges

Working a secure environment with restriction of craft proved to be another difficult challenge for the project team. Site processing of security clearances, total background checks, of all staff or craft that might have access to the construction site was a tedious and ongoing process that at time hampered the construction schedule. To control the schedule, cost and deliver the project, the HDRITurner team brought in labor for different trades from as far away as Detroit and Kansas City.

Best Sustainable Project, Oregon

The 103,000 square-foot facility features classrooms, labs and studios, space for exhibits, lectures and both private and public events up to 200 people. A new library and learning commons area, state-of- the-art collaborative computing environments as well as a new university book store and Duck Shop with a cafe. In addition, the new facility will house administrative offices for as many as 100 employees. The approximate cost for the White Stag Block renovation was nearly $38 million.

The White Stag Block renovation team recognized energy consumption and user comfort as two critical components of the redesign of these leaky, inefficient historic buildings.

In this case, the design team used an integrated design process from the beginning, taking into account the interrelationship among different systems and how a change in one system will affect another. There were numerous constraints influencing this integrated design process.

For instance, because of the listing on the National Register of Historic Places, any modifications made to the building visible from the street required permission. The historic designation limits window replacement options and it influences the amount of natural (rather than mechanical) ventilation that can be used. In addition, the design process was impacted by financial constraints that shaped choices in which green-building techniques would be employed.

In addition to these constraints, the floor levels in each of the three buildings were different, creating a design challenge. Through extensive creativity the design team was able to create new entryways between the buildings, increasing natural ventilation and daylighting while reducing both mechanical and electrical consumption. Of course, all of this was done while still preserving the historic integrity of the building. Occupancy and daylight sensors as well as high-efficiency lighting systems were installed throughout the building to draw energy only when necessary. The building team was also able to daylight stairwells and upgrade doors and windows while maintaining the buildings' historical character.

In addition, by providing workstations in open floor plan areas with task lighting, the lighting level can be lower and users can customize their light levels. Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are used in corridor lighting, public lobbies and lamps. Elsewhere, the main light sources are high lumen-output, electronic ballast fluorescents. In this way, this LEED project reduces the watts per square foot below those required by Oregon building codes.

One other great design feature of note is the way the two existing light wells between the four buildings that make up the White Stag Block promote historic preservation and sustainability. Most notably, the basement level of the light well between the White Stag and Skidmore Buildings had previously been open to the sky and was home to many pigeons. In the renovation process, this light well was lined with concrete to create the 10,000 gallon water storage tank that collects rainwater from the roof and is used to flush the buildings' toilets. In addition, a concealed light well between the Bickel and Blagen buildings houses the ventilation systems for all four buildings. The has significantly reduced the amount of floor space needed for ventilation shafts.

Project Team:

Owner: White Stag Block, LLC
Developer: Venerable Development, LLC
Leasing agent: Venerable Properties, LLC
Architect: Fletcher Farr Ayotte, Inc. (FFA)
Construction Contractor: Bremik Construction
LEED Consultant: Green Building Services (GBS)
Structural /Civil Engineer: KPFF
Mechanical Engineer: Interface Engineering

Best Sustainable Design, Oregon

The Watershed at Hillsdale is not only the first mixed-use development in the Hillsdale Town Center area of Portland; it also offers a much-needed solution to a lack of affordable senior housing in the area. This particular neighborhood suffers from a lack of buildable land. Creating a successful project required revitalizing a brownfield site that had previously been severely neglected. The developer of this project, Community Partners for Affordable Housing is the first non-profit recipient of an EPA Cleanup Grant in Oregon.

In addition to the challenges of poor soil and nonstructural fill, the triangular shape of the site required the project team to design a unique strategic site plan solution. With an eye toward achieving high density while still being sensitive to the scale of the surrounding neighborhood, the project was designed as two separate buildings or four story and another three story, connected by a bridge.

The building design and construction incorporates innovative green building techniques and materials that minimize life cycle costs, add to indoor air quality and reduce utility costs for residents. The community was encouraged to be involved in the overall process and participated in an educational design charrette as well as a green building design charrette.

The Watershed is expected to receive a LEED Silver certification. The project will achieve at least 30 percent more efficiency that Oregon code and includes an Energy Recovery Ventilation System that recovers heat from the exhaust during cold weather and pre-cools/dehumidifies incoming air during hot muggy weather.

More innovative green features include high efficiency central furnaces and heat pumps for common areas, a high efficiency central boiler for water heating, energy efficient lighting while still meeting higher lighting levels for the aging eye and Energy Star appliances, windows and roofing.

Specially designed stormwater cascading rain gardens filter stormwater and detain initial surge to maintain water in nearby Stephens Creek and Fanno Creek Watersheds. Included in the garden areas is efficient irrigation with moisture censor controls.

Most Sustainable Office Building, Washington

Completed in March 2008, The Terry Thomas is a highly sustainable, commercial building located in Seattle’s South Lake Union area. Wrapped in windows, it is a building designed along a modern aesthetic with a combination of time-tested strategies from the pre-HVAC era and complimentary new technologies. It’s Seattle’s first commercial office structure to be developed without a central air conditioning system in decades and is a working demonstration of the possibilities of sustainable design.

The design choices made for this building reflect changing attitudes about the environment, climate change and employee well being. The project reduces its carbon footprint with no air conditioning, reduced lighting, a feature staircase that encourages use and a single elevator. A main goal of the design is to reduce its energy use by 30 percent from that of a typical office building with conventional air conditioning.

The building is on track to meet this goal through the intricate intertwining of numerous techniques. Passive cooling is achieved through several design strategies working in concert to enhance ventilation and reduce solar gain. The most significant feature, operable windows, were also the most requested by the tenant’s main staff.

Exterior automated blinds are installed on specific windows that modeling predicted would receive the most sun. These smart blinds automatically adjust depending on the sunlight levels and orientation. On the roof sensors with hemispherical lens acts as photocells, monitoring the intensity of lights. A wind sensor causes the blinds to retract into their housings when the wind exceeds 40 mph. Interior controllers on the ceiling are programmed based on the blind’s orientation towards the sun, building altitude and an astronomical clock that tracks the seasons.

Another request by employees, was a kind of driving force in the building design is daylighting. Shallow floor plates depths and high ceilings allow natural light to penetrate the interior of the offices from both the exterior of the building and the core open-air courtyard. Daylighting models were tested at the Integrated design Lab to ensure even lighting without glare to users working on computers. Within the bulk of the building, daylight sensors are on all lighting within 15 feet of the windows and energy star equipment is provided to reduce the plug load.

Finally only one energy efficient elevator was integrated into the building. Use of the stairs by employees is encouraged by a prominent and accessible outdoor staircase in the courtyard, while the elevator is located towards the back of the building.

Commissioned heating and electrical will ensure that all these systems are working as efficiently as designed. In order to accurately measure energy consumption and gauge the effectiveness of the strategies, sub-metering was installed for the Weber Thompson office space.

The Terry Thomas was also designed to conserve as much water as possible. A storm water drainage system was designed to detain runoff into an onsite tank, then slowly release it to the city storm water system. Low flow fixtures, dual flush toilets and waterless urinals are anticipated to save approximately 50% water.

Best Non-Profit Ecoss Corp.

The Northwest Environmental Business Council teamed up with Northwest Construction to give out an award for Environmental Achievement as part of our Best of 2008 event. Robert Grott, NEBC executive director, chose Ecoss, Seattle, for its expertise in brownfield development.

Since 1999, ECOSS has provided outreach, environmental education, technical assistance, and networking to the environmental and regulatory community for businesses, municipalities, property owners and non-profit groups who may be struggling with redevelopment of contaminated property. This work has been funded principally by EPA Brownfield Assessment Grants through the King County Brownfields Program with significant additional funding from the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development.

In that period of time, ECOSS has inspected and conducted research on over 300 contaminated properties in King County and provided free technical assistance to hundreds of property owners and potential purchasers. This assistance has let to several notable developments:

• Rainier Court Housing Project—7 acres of blighted contaminated real estate in Seattle’s Rainier Valley converted to low cost and market rate housing.
• Kwik Cleaner Site—A dry cleaner site in Seattle’s Beacon Hill cleaned up and redeveloped into a successful bakery.
• North Coast Chemical Site—An abandoned chemical plant in south Seattle cleaned up and reused as a manufacturing plant for concrete retaining wall systems using recycled surplus cement.
• Advance Electroplating Site—An abandoned plating company cleaned up and sold to a developer who leases space to a variety of businesses.
• Ellisport Creek Greenspace—A former sawmill and bunker fuel storage facility on the eastern shore of Vashon Island under reclamation for wetland and fish habitat use.

Other projects include monitoring the status of contaminated sites throughout King County, helping municipalities and non-profits obtain free Phase I and II site assessments through the King County Brownfield Program, and conducting area wide historic land use research to aid municipalities and non-profit groups plan for future developments.

ECOSS’s mission in the Brownfields area is help encourage the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of property which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant by providing educational, technical, networking, and outreach assistance. This assistance is confidential and free of charge.