BULLITT CENTER: a deep dive into deep-green building PREPARED BY WILL ROBERTS FOR USP 529 - GREEN BUILDINGS WINTER 2016
CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 BACKGROUND 3 DESIGN TEAM 5 PLANNING AND PERMITTING 7 LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE 9
GREEN FEATURES (LIVING BUILDING PETALS) 11
Place Water Energy Health and Happiness Materials Equity Beauty Process
ECODISTRICT 23 MCGILVRA PARK 25
OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE
27
SUCCESSES AND LESSONS LEARNED
29
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 31 PROJECT COSTS 33 APPENDIX 35
“Quite simply, this is one of the most important buildings in the world. The Bullitt Center proves that dramatic improvements are possible when a talented group shoots for the stars.� - Jason F. McLennan, CEO of the International Living Future Institute.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY total project cost (excluding land)
$27,000,000
total project cost (including land)
$32,500,000
designed lifespan of building
NAME Bullitt Center
energy use intensity (EUI) of typical Seattle office building
60
EUI of leed platinum office building securing all energy credits
32
Bullitt Center designed EUI
16
Bullitt Center EUI when fully tenanted (estimated)
12
PROJECT AREA 10,076 sf
Bullitt Center actual EUI in year one
9.4
BUILDING AREA 50,798 sf
number of 400-foot deep geothermal wells
26
STATUS Certified ‘Living’ LOCATION Seattle, WA, USA BIOREGION Cascadia LIVING TRANSECT L5 TYPOLOGY Building OCCUPANT TYPE Commercial Office
BUILDING FOOTPRINT 10,076 sf START OF CONSTRUCTION 7/1/2011
number of solar panels on the roof
575
START OF OCCUPANCY PERIOD 4/1/2013
kilowatts of installed generating capactity
244
OWNER OCCUPIED Yes NUMBER OF OCCUPANTS 10 tenants NUMBER OF VISITORS 60+ per day
kilowatt-hours generated in 2014
243,671
kilowatt-hoursused in 2014
152,878
toxic chemicals avoided in building materials size of rainwater storage cistern walkscore 1 - Executive Summary
250 YEARS
362 52,000 GALLONS 100
OVERVIEW The Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington is one of the most famous green buildings in the world. It is the world’s first Class-A commercial office that has been certified as “living” through the ultra-stringent ecology-focused Living Building Challenge. It boasts an array of impressive feats of engineering, finance, material sourcing, architecture, political will, and environmental stewardship. The technological innovations, though impressive on their own, merely facilitate the larger philosophical vision; which is to act as a model for the sustainable integration of nature, urbanism, and buildings. Denis Hayes (President of the Bullitt Foundation and Founder of Earth Day) frequently discusses how he conceptualizes his vision for the Bullitt Center as a restoration project whereby the land is nurtured as it was prior to urban development. He compares the Bullitt Center to the Douglas Fir forests that once stood tall where Seattle now dominates. Hayes hopes that the Bullitt Center will replicate the sustaining properties of the forest ecosystem by restoring a complete balance of energy, water, and material use. The project has been heavily reported on and tracked since its 2013 opening. It is conceived as a prototype structure where every material and design decision demands strict performance. Robert Pena, a professor at the University of Washington, found that the Bullitt Center is 80% more efficient than most commercial high rises in Seattle. Further, it is twice as efficient as the ‘greenest’ Class-A office buildings in Seattle. The space itself is beautiful and inviting. Tenants are not asked to sacrifice services, but to conduct business with vastly more efficiency. The team believes that it is the elegance, inspiration, and behavioral characteristics that will all help usher in the revolution of truly sustainable buildings. Hayes has said that the major benchmark in assessing project success is to look back in five years and if the Bullitt Center is still a one-of-a-kind structure, then they have failed. The design team and owner hopes to inspire and create physical proof that what some called impossible is very much attainable, even in a cloudy urban environment of Seattle.
“The attention-getting elements of the Bullitt Center—100% on-site renewable energy, water and waste management, as well as a safe, naturally day-lit and ventilated work environment built to last 250 years—follow from an equally exciting integrated design process that enabled us to move beyond the traditionally linear design, engineering and construction process to orchestrate a diverse team targeting the seemingly impossible together, right from the start,”
“In considering first and foremost how to design a building with essentially no environmental footprint, it was energizing to identify imaginative and elegant ways to beautifully express the building’s core performance functions through design strategies using a mix of existing and new technologies, systems, and materials. While in one sense we had to do more with less, we happily found that designing to high-performance targets actually opened up numerous formal design opportunities.” - Craig Curtis, design partner with The Miller Hull Partnership.
2
BACKGROUND
“ I DO N’ T HAV E CAU S E S , I H AV E P R I NCI P L E S . ”
- Dorothy Bullitt
3 - Background
THE BULLITT FOUNDATION: The Bullitt Foundation is a philanthropic organization that was started in 1952 by Dorothy Bullitt. The organization focuses on the Cascadia region of North America (Vancouver, B.C. to Portland, OR) with programs relating to: regional ecosystem health; energy, climate, and materials; deep green buildings; resilient cities, healthy communities; and thought leadership and innovation. For most of the organization’s history the headquarters were located on the Bullitt family estate. In 2007 the seven-person non-profit decided it was time for a new home. Given the Bullitt Foundation’s mission, vision, and expertise; they were interested in making a long-term investment that would reflect the deep ecology and complete life-cycle approach employed by the organization. The Center is expected to have a 250-year lifespan and will be owned, occupied, and operated by the Bullitt Center throughout that time.
M I S S I O N
To safeguard the natural environment by promoting responsible human activities and sustainable communities in the Pacific Northwest.
V I S I O N
A future that safeguards the vitality of natural ecosystems while accommodating a sustainable human population in healthy, vibrant, equitable, and prosperous communities.
THE SITE: The five sided .28-acre site is located at 1501 East Madison Street, is close to downtown, and borders the Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods. Surrounding streets include 15th Ave, East Pike Street, and an alley that runs diagonally from 15th to 16th Ave (parallel to Madison). The neighborhoods are occupied by diverse populations and represent major cultural hubs for the city. Over the decades they have followed general urban trends in America; decline, resurgence, and, currently, intense gentrification. The site was chosen by the developer, Point32, after an extensive buildable lands analysis. The site has a natural grade change rising to the northern end of the site. It is also zoned with a higher height limit than the land directly to the south. Some adjacent buildings have cultural importance and thus are not likely going to be torn down anytime soon. These factors provide not only fantastic views of downtown Seattle but also unobstructed and protected solar exposure. The southern exposure provides beneficial conditions for passive heating and cooling and the grade change allows greywater filtration into a neighboring park.
4
DESIGN TEAM
5 - Design Team
WHO
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
The integrative design process was initiated with the hiring of Point32, a small ecologically-minded development firm out of Seattle. Point32 quickly spearheaded an extensive search for an architecture firm that was committed to the mission and had proven experience in deep sustainability design. Miller Hull Partnership was brought in and with a few sub-consultants that they had a positive working relationship with. The core design team represented the client, developer, architect, engineer, contractor, and the University of Washington’s Integrated Design Lab. They met every week for a year of pre-planning.
April 2008
July 2009
Jan. 2011
July 2011
Mar. 2013
site purchased
planning started
leasing started
construction started
project completed
“This was to be a quantum leap forward for the regional, national, and global green building industry. We wanted to show what was possible given our current technology and where we are in the building industry.” - Joe David of Point32 describing the shared vision for the project
NAME
ROLE
Bullit Foundation
Owner
Point32
Developer
The Miller Hull Partnership
Architect
Schuchart
General Contractor
PAE Consulting Engineers
Mechanical and Electrical Engineers
DCI Engineers
Structural Engineers
RDH Building Envelope Consultants
Building Envelope Consultant
2020 Engineering
Water System Engineer
Solar Design Assocaites
Energy Consultant
Springline Design
Civil Engineers
Berger Partnership
Landscape Architect
Integreated Design Lab | Puget Sound College of Built Environments
UW Lighting Consultants
CT Engineering Inc.
Shoring Design
Bush, Roed & Hitchings, Inc.
Surveyor
Terracon
Geotechnical Engineer
CBRE
Building Manager
KBA Construction Management
Commissioning Authority
6
PLANNING AND PERMITTING
7 - Planning and Permitting
HOW Navigating the permitting and code requirements were one of the team’s greatest hurdles. Similarly to nearly all of municipalities in the country, Seattle’s building and land use codes simply aren’t set up to encourage innovative deep-green building. To get anywhere near net-zero energy or water the team is almost instantly in violation of around 24 codes relating to nearly every element of the building. When working with folks representing the City of Seattle, the design team found that the city was quite blunt about not knowing what even needed to be changed to facilitate the development. Some of the greatest challenges included; “legality of the solar panels overhanging public sidewalks, the consumption of rainwater, greywater infiltration in an urban bioswale, and the use of composting toilets in commercial buildings.” The respective city agencies were found to be supportive and even created a Living Building Pilot program to facilitate and encourage future living buildings. The pilot program provides flexibility in relation to specific code requirements. The city also created a Deep Green Technical Advisory Group that worked with the pilot program to review plans from applicants. The city primarily wanted to focus on methods that would allow and encourage green building performance while also ensuring community design standards. Some of the code hurdles:
State Department of Health, the King County Department of Public Health, and Seattle Public Utilities. VERTICAL SOLAR PANELS - Originally, the design team proposed vertical solar panels hanging from the southern side of the building. Negative public comments and high costs pushed the team to pursue greater energy efficiency and retain only rooftop solar. CITY AGENCIES INVOLVED IN PROJECT:
SEATTLE DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SEATTLE CITY LIGHT SEATTLE PUBLIC UTILITIES SEATTLE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SEATTLE PARKS AND RECREATION
EXPAND THE ZONE’S HEIGHT LIMIT – This space was not used for an extra floor but rather to increase floor-to-floor height to allow more daylighting. SOLAR PANELS HANGING OVER SIDEWALK – Interestingly, the city would have allowed the large solar panels that hang over the public sidewalk to be called a skybridge. This however would have triggered expensive structural work to meet city codes so they were able to negotiate with the city to call it an awning that would be less expensive and bulky. COMPOST - Taken and mixed with King County’s treated waste and used as fertilizer for nonfood agriculture products. HARVEST AND FILTER ALL RAINWATER ON SITE – This has been the greatest struggle. 18 months after construction the building manager was still not certified to operate as a public water district. The process involved the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington 8
L B C
LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE
LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE 3.0
SM
A Visionary Path to a Regenerative Future
9 - Living Building Challenge
WHAT IS IT? The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is the most stringent green certification in the built environment (buildings use about half of the energy required to achieve LEED Platinum status). It aims to push the limits of green metrics and performance data while also inspiring a more ecology-focused generation of buildings. This program represents more of a deep green philosophy wrapped in an advocacy tool that is implemented through a building certification process. It is intended to create a net-positive impact on the environment. It is similar to that of the cradle-tocradle design philosophy. It accomplishes this on the small scale by requiring an investigation of every design detail. The certification also then requires large scale investments such as the preservation of off-site wilderness and life-cycle assessments for all products. Simplicity and efficiency are beneficial in LBC so that buildings begin to operate more like organisms, taking no more resources than it needs. LBC is administered by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) which aims to build visionary programs that “lead and support the transformation towards communities that are socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.” Similar to the holistic nature of the Living Building Challenge, ILFI has evolved quickly to look beyond just building certification. It now runs many programs that permeate various scales of modern life. These programs include; Living Building Challenge, Living Community Challenge (similar to Living Building but for whole communities), Living Product Challenge (a call to designers and manufacturers to create net positive products), Net Zero Energy Building Certification (certification for energy conservation in old and new buildings), Just (a social justice label or organizations), Declare (materials nutrition label), and Reveal (an energy efficiency label for buildings).
continually occupied for one full year to assess actual performance, post-occupancy. LBC is now on its third version. The challenge itself aims to be a dynamic and evolving program that learns and adapts with each project to continuously express proven methods and technologies. As of April 2014 there were 192 Living Building projects in 10 countries around the world covering 5,309,778 square feet. Most of the LBC certified projects are of much smaller size than that the Bullitt Center, which further illustrates the importance and boldness of the project.
“it’s time to imagine a living future and a world of living buildings”
There is no strict guideline or blueprint that LBC mandates. It measures performance outcomes and asks the design team to utilize local knowledge and site-specific opportunities to devise how the pieces will complement each other. LBC organizes performance through six categories (known as petals), they are: Place, Water, Energy, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty. Those petals have finer-grain subcategories, called imperatives. There are twenty total imperatives. It is thought that through integrating flexibility, the entire range of building types, sizes, uses, and sites can be accommodated. In order to become a living building the design team must address all of the imperatives assigned to its typology (some exceptions are possible) and be 10
GREEN FEATURES (LIVING BUILDING PETALS)
11 - Green Features (Living Building Petals)
PLACE LBC requires every applicant to identify the transect (a term stemming from Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company’s research on different zones of the built environment) in which their project will reside. Working within a specific urban or suburban context will further specify how a building can fit into the larger context of the area. The Bullitt Center resides in “L5 – Urban Center Zone” which is composed of medium to high mixed use development in small to mid-size cities or the inner ring of large cities.
The site also has a walk score of 100/100. This means there is superb access to restaurants, shops, culture, and other urban amenities within a short and comfortable walk. To further encourage active transportation, the design team integrated bike parking, showers, and locker rooms on each floor of the building. The surrounding network also has bike lanes and a new protected bike lane.
LIMITS TO GROWTH: The Bullitt Center replaced a surface parking lot and a one-story wood and brick building that was taking up less than half of the 6,750 sf lot. The team was able to work with city agencies to loosen the rules allowing deconstruction prior to the issuance of a Master Use Permit. This allowed for a sensitive demolition which enabled material recycling and salvage, a process not usually feasible under current regulations and associated costs. All LBC buildings are required to be constructed on already developed land. Placing the Bullitt Center in a connected location within the city increases thoughtful density which reduces the social costs of sprawl.
HABITAT EXCHANGE: A unique imperative that truly sets the LBC apart from others requires the development team to offset the land being developed through 1:1 (hectares, minimum of .4 hectares) off-site wilderness preservation. The Bullitt Center chose to work with the Western Rivers Conservation to preserve land around the Hoh River in Jefferson County, Washington.
HUMAN POWERED LIVING:
Estimated percent of occupants using public
The Bullitt Center is positioned well in the urban network to be accessible throughout the city. Because there is no vehicle parking, it was critical that a network of public transit and bike/ped facilities be present. There are over 20 bus lines, a streetcar, lightrail service, and over 20 Zipcars and Car2Gos all within a half mile of the building.
transit, cycling or walking:
75%
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WATER
POTABLE WATER:
Utility-supplied for potable use due to regulatory requirement Systems Fed Year End Cistern Level
Collection Strategies
Systems Fed Grey Water
50,730 GALLONS POTABLE WATER SYSTEMS 47,626 GALLONS RAINWATER COLLECTION ON THE BUILDING’S ROOF MEMBRANE AND DIVERTED INTO A CISTERN IN THE BASEMENT ALL POTABLE & NON-POTABLE SYSTEMS 29,384 GALLONS
Systems Fed
RECIRCULATING GRAVEL FILTRATION SYSTEM & GREEN ROOF
Black Water
APPROXIMATELY 7,200 GALLONS OF LEACHATE
Systems Fed
COMPOST TO BE USED BY KIND COUNTY
Estimated Total Water Use Per Capita
APPROXIMATELY 470 GALLONS/YEAR
Simulated/Designed Water Use
10,750 GALLONS/WEEK
Design Tools and Calculation Methods
HAND CALCULATIONS
13 - Green Features (Living Building Petals)
The rainwater is collected on the roof, below the solar panels. Downspouts deliver that water to a 56,000-gallon concrete cistern in the basement where the water is filtered numerous times. Firstly, a large vortex filter removes large materials. It then passes through three ceramic filters that remove everything down to viruses. The water is then exposed to ultraviolet light, passed through activated charcoal, and finally has a small amount of chlorine added. The chlorine is removed at the faucets with another layer of activated charcoal filtering. Any rainwater not collected is funneled to pervious pavement and landscaping around the building. These features allow the water to naturally infiltrate the soil and reduce surface runoff. Collected rainwater has yet to be approved for commercial buildings in Washington County. After a long process and consultation with numerous regulatory agencies on multiple scales of government the Bullitt Center was able to meet national and local requirements for safe drinking water. It s fully plumbed but currently cannot meet the “net-zero” water requirement until final approval is given to the center.
WASTEWATER: The Bullitt Center went to great lengths to negotiate and collaborate with state, county, and local regulators to design a rainwater collection system and on-site waste treatment system that has never been permitted in an urban context. The center was able to create a composting toilet system connecting all six floors (tallest building ever to have compostable toilets throughout). The toilets sense a user and immediately begin discharging a biodegradable soap-like substance into the
bowl. About three tablespoons of water is then mixed with the soap to create a low-friction flow of material to the composter. This system is responsible for a massive reduction in overall water use in the building. When the waste reaches the composting system it is constantly mixed with wood chips. The material begins to break down and filters to the bottom, stabilized leachate is pumped out, and carbon dioxide is directed to heat recovery ventilators in the roof. The leachate must be transferred off-site where it is further treated and then used in a bird sanctuary. The biosolids are collected by the county and turned into fertilizer. The design team hopes that more multi-story buildings will adopt this innovative system.
GREYWATER: The greywater created from the Bullitt Center is filtered, stored, and then treated in an on-site constructed wetland on the third floor terrace. The wetland is a green roof with hearty vegetation where the greywater is fed and cycled numerous times before it is released. Up to 500 gallons can be filtered a day. The treated water is then deposited on a green planting strip, at-grade, where it nurtures vegetation and infiltrates into the natural aquifer. This is a first-of-its kind system in Seattle and acts as a precedent of closed-loop sustainable water use. This system, along with evaporation and stormwater mitigation, allows the Bullitt Center to restore 61% of the water it uses naturally back to the ecosystem.
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ENERGY
SOLAR: By LBC rules, the building must produce as much electricity as it uses on an annual basis (net-zero energy). One of primary ways the Bullitt Center was able to accomplish this feat was by the massive solar array it has on its roof. The center boasts 575 solar panels (14,000 sf) which produces a surplus of energy in the sunny summer months. The building is connected to the larger utility grid so it can give that excess energy to the city in the summer (when demand is the highest) and in the grey winters it will take needed energy from it. The designers made a bold choice to orient the panels to maximize production in the summer months while somewhat ignoring the weak solar capabilities in the winter. It was found that enough power could be generated in the summer to offset winter energy demands. It is expected that the total energy generation by the PV array is 230,000 kWh. The building has two meters that are monitored by the city’s utility and the building engineer to assess how much energy is being withdrawn and produced simultaneously.
The cornerstone of most green building efforts is related to energy use and efficiency. The Bullitt Center is a leading example of behavioral and technological efficiency measures and also onsite energy production. In 2014, the Bullitt Center produced 60% more energy than it used. This makes it the most energy efficiency office building in the country. Truly remarkable is that it resides in one of the cloudiest cities in the country and most of the energy production is solar. A huge reason for this is that all tenants have energy budgets that they must meet. They pay zero energy costs if they come in below their allotment. The building hosts frequent ‘energy parties’ where tenants come together and discover ways to increasing efficiency. One such method was to replace desktop computers with smaller laptops and install automatic desk laps, among others.
244 kW Photovoltaic Array ANNUAL ENERGY USE Actual: 152,877 kWh / year Simulated/designed: 231,000 kWh/year 15 - Green Features (Living Building Petals)
During the performance period, the Center produced a surplus of 90,793 kWh of electricity and operated with an actual energy use intensity (EUI) of 9.4 (a typical office building has an EUI of 92).
HEAT RECOVERY VENTILATORS: HYDRONIC SYSTEMS: Heating and cooling is managed by a PEX hydronic system composed of 26 closedloop geothermic wells running 400 feet below the building. The tubes lie a few inches below the concrete floors and run a special mix of glycol and water that is heated or cooled to influence the concrete and manage air temperature. To heat the space, the fluid is pumped up to a mechanical room where it is heated to 90 degrees F and transferred around the building. In the summer, the system runs in reverse and dumps excess heat back to the earth. There are four total heat pumps. Three of them heat space and one regulates water temperature. The wells are placed in an area that experiences a constant flow of groundwater so the heat being deposited in this area is dispersed within 12 inches, avoiding heat pollution into the Puget Sound.
Rather than overloading the heating and cooling of a space by allowing that energy to leave with ventilated air, the design team used a heat recovery ventilator. This basically crosses the warmed or cooled air inside the building with fresh air from outside the building to transfer the temperature and maintain a passive loop of comfortable air.
ELEVATOR: As a testament to the commitment of the design team, even the elevator is an energy efficient marvel. It was built with a regenerative mechanism and motor that captures energy when the elevator slows down and diverts it to other parts of the building. This elevator is found to be about 60% more efficient than normal elevators. The placement the keycard only elevator, behind the aestheticallypleasing ‘Irresistible Stairway’, further reduces energy demands by decreasing use.
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DESIGN TOOLS/MODELING REVIT geometry of the building TRANE TRACE heating and cooling loads EQUEST energy modeling BENTLEY TAS airflow analysis (ventilation and night flush) GLHEPRO geo-exchange field AUTODESK SIMULATUION computational fluid dynamics analysis 2012 GRASSHOPPER photovoltaic analysis ECOTECT daylight analysis
REGULATIONS: The City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development allowed the Bullitt Center some regulatory flexibility through its Living Building Pilot Program. The program incentivizes innovative performance-based designs by allowing departures from the Land Use Code. The program seeks to learn from the Bullitt Center and others pursuing the Living Building Challenge in hopes of updating the Land Use Codes to allow and encourage more efficient buildings across the city.
17 - Green Features (Living Building Petals)
HEALTH AND HAPPINESS The design team took great care to encourage not just building performance, but tenant performance. Design elements like the ‘irresistible stairway’ invites users to the glass and heavy-timber structure to encourage exercise and reduce energy use. The stairs are placed prominently at the front entrance, provide stunning views of the surrounding area, and are wide enough to facilitate conversation. Additionally, every workstation has access to natural daylight (every user is within 30 feet of fresh air and natural lighting) and many areas have spectacular views of downtown and the Olympic Mountains to increase a connection to the outside world. The design team devised an elaborate skin that optimizes thermal and lighting comfort. The outermost skin layer is a set of steel shades that can scatter solar rays in the summer and maximize daylight, while minimizing glare, in the winter. The windows themselves are specialty pieces of technology. The 532 pound units eliminate thermal bridging and can be pushed straight out by users to allow ventilation from around the entire window. Indoor air quality was protected by using low and zero volatile organic compound (VOC) finishes on all of the interior materials.
BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (BMS): The BMS system in the Bullitt Center acts as the control panel for the building. Through this system, the Bullitt Center team can control passive and active systems to maintain a comfortable environment for users, all while achieving net-zero water and energy. The BMS can automatically adjust features based on altering conditions to the building’s interior and exterior. It is responsible for the control of the: heating system, cooling system, passive and active ventilation systems, daylight control, composters and grey water metabolism.
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MATERIALS The design team worked very closely with manufacturers to identify specific supply chain and origin information about materials used in the Bullitt Center. They also frequently consulted the Pharos Project chemical database to investigate the chemicals identified through the process. There was admitted difficulty in truly identifying all material components due to the complex global supply-chain structure used by many manufacturers. The Bullitt Center has released all of its materials and hopes that this process sets a knowledge base and encourages manufacturers to increase transparency for future projects. The process divulged that many product manufacturers using nasty chemicals only did so because it was industry standard and they had not really compared the possibility of other materials. About 360 hazardous substances were not used in the building including PVC plastics, mercury, cadmium, etc. Although challenging to isolate some materials, the team focused on material selection that they referred to as, “state of the shelf”. They hoped that instead of finding specialty and expensive ‘state of the art’ materials, they could utilize already existing products. This is thought to benefit manufacturers that reduce chemicals while also blazing a clear trail that other builders could follow.
STRUCTURE: All wood used in the Bullitt Center is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The wood is sourced within 1,000 km of the site and all steel and concrete are from within 500 km. Timber framing is used from the second floor up. The structural timbers are all glued-laminated timbers which are more efficient, don’t require large trees, and are stronger. 545 metric tons of carbon are sequestered within the Bullitt Center structure. The team limited the amount of concrete used because it is a carbon intensive material to create. Concrete was limited to the structure base and the team removed some common mixers that are found on the Red List. The core of the building is steel which assists in the horizontal loading. The steel and timber construction are complementary for high winds and earthquakes, further increasing resiliency and reducing risk of damage and injury.
19 - Green Features (Living Building Petals)
250-YEAR LIFESPAN: The building’s impressive 250-year lifespan is accomplished largely because the exterior walls and triple-glazed curtainwall designs allow for simple removal and replacement from the frame. Those components have a 50-year lifecycle. An average building has around a 30 to 40-year lifespan before requiring major renovations.
EQUITY The Bullitt Center’s contribution to equity is the overall transparency of the process and structure. By releasing the materials used, hurdles, best practices, etc. they are clearing a path for developers, jurisdictions, and the public at-large to get inspired and be emboldened to shift personal actions and perpetuate positive change. The team continues to conduct community outreach, education, and provide public tours of the building allowing thousands of folks to come and learn about what 21st century environmental stewardship can look like. Some the visitors have included including code officials from China, the Mayor of Copenhagen, the President of Bulgaria, the Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, and officials of many Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities. The center also hosts the University of Washington’s Center for Integrated design which provides a setting in which future professionals can come and learn about sustainable design. The team also takes credit for all of the regulatory groundwork they did to achieve net-zero water and alter the Land Use Code so that more buildings can pursue innovative site specific solutions.
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BEAUTY The Bullitt Center conducts daily tours and invites the public to come and experience how high-performance and high-design can come together to create a beautiful and motivating structure. While every design decision was required to analyze environmental performance there was also an obvious need to create a space that people wanted to inhabit. The team chose to stimulate and activate building elements with beauty to enhance preferred uses. This is called out in the ‘irresistible stairway’ where people aren’t required to take the stairs but rather encouraged to through inviting aesthetics and the integration of natural elements. Fusing biophilic philosophies and designs into the building influences users and visitors to be more environmentally conscious.
21 - Green Features (Living Building Petals)
PROCESS For the Bullitt Center team, the process is part of the product. The integrated design team did not follow the ordinary RFP process but instead handpicked the consultants based on recommendations and known positive working relationships. They used many high-tech technical analysis tools and Building Information Modeling (BIM) to create an open, iterative, and fluid process. This also invited and provided a platform for active collaboration amongst team members. The team used the process as a tool that can be followed by future builders as a model. The iterations, material selection, regulatory headaches, lessons learned have been extensively reported on and advertised as a way to influence similar design processes.
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ECODISTRICT The Bullitt Center is located in the Capitol Hill EcoDistrict. An EcoDistrict essentially takes some of the principles being advocated for in the design of the Bullitt Center and scales it up to encompass efficiency and resource reduction in the neighborhood. EcoDistricts have been rising in popularity around the U.S. and world. The Capitol Hill EcoDistrict’s genesis stems from a Bullitt Foundation grant in 2011. The EcoDistrict is managed by Capitol Hill Housing, a community development corporation and public development authority. The district is the most densely populated urban village in the Pacific Northwest. The sustainability initiative houses its goals and objectives into eight social, environmental, and cultural performance areas (found in the table to the right).
WATER
Conserve potable water; reduce black water production and polluted runoff
HABITAT
Enrich urban habitat within the EcoDistrict and surrounding neighborhoods to promote biodiversity
CULTURE
Foster neighborhood identity through a welldesigned built environment and support of local arts & artists
ENERGY
and
MATERIALS
Reduce the negative environmental impacts of materials through conservation and diversion
TRANSPORTATION
Maximize opportunities for walking, biking and transit use
HEALTH EQUITY 23 - EcoDistrict
Reduce non-renewable energy use associated greenhouse gas emissions
Promote human wellbeing
health
and
community
Ensure the fair distribution of benefits and burdens of investment and development
“sustainability applied at the neighborhood scale. EcoDistricts provide a framework for realizing advanced sustainability through behavior change, building design, and infrastructure investments.�
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MCGILVRA PARK McGilvra Place Park is a 242-square meter park located at the front door of the Bullitt Center. The site was once a forgotten median but has recently been transformed into the world’s first “living park”. The project underwent the same Living Building Challenge scrutiny (i.e. responding to petals, and imperatives). Primary actions included preserving and highlighting 11 century-year old London Plane trees, establishing a public plaza, replacing turf with native vegetation, installing furniture made from reclaimed timber, and improving accessibility. The site uses no energy and had all water service decommissioned (possible because of a reduction of impervious surfaces and placement of native vegetation). The project was made possible due to collaboration between the Bullitt Foundation, Seattle Parks Foundation, Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, and Seattle Department of Transportation. The project included $72,000 in soft costs and $406,000 in hard costs.
25 - McGilvra Park
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FEATURES: - Avoids the use of Red-List materials - Diversion of construction waste from landfill - Replaced turf with native plant species that require no irrigation - Reduces stormwater run-off that enters Lake Union via the separated storm line - Presentation of drought tolerant plant species at McGilvra
COMMUNITY BENEFITS: - Creates a new neighborhood gathering space as recommended by neighborhood plans. - Improves safety for pedestrians and bicyclists by eliminating motor vehicle access on 15th Avenue between East Madison and East Pike Streets. - Includes benches, a pedestrian plaza and a ping pong table to activate the site. - Serves as a new model for public-private partnership for management, without increasing public-sector operating costs. - Developed in partnership with neighbors, the City of Seattle and the Seattle Parks Foundation.
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OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE
TENANT LIST INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE 1st floor UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON INTEGRATED DESIGN 1st and 2nd floors LAB
TENANTS
HAMMER & HAND 2nd floor Because the Bullitt Foundation shares the building with a variety of tenants the design features must not inhibit productivity or comfort. The tenants are all given realistic energy budgets, along with expertise to help them reach their goals. Not a single tenant paid for electricity in 2014 because they all stayed within their goals. Management will further incentivize energy efficiency by writing rebate checks based on square footage to all tenants who come in under their energy budget amount. Tenants could also get greater benefits because of the sustaining ability of the building to insulate itself from increasing energy and water costs resulting from climate change.
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL 2nd floor JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY SOLARC ENGINEERING 2nd floor PAE ENGINEERING 3rd floor LUMA LIGHTING DESIGN 3rd floor
OFFICE NET RENTABLE AREA (NRA) NRA OCCUPIED
44,766 sq ft 84%
NUMBER OF TENANTS
10
TYPICAL TENANT SIZE
3,500 sq ft
TYPICAL ANNUAL RENTS OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE AVERAGE LENGTH LEASE 27 - Operations and Maintenance
$28 to $30 per sq ft $12.18 per sq ft 7 years
COWORK SPACE/POINT32 4th floor INTENTIONAL FUTURES 5th floor BULLITT FOUNDATION 6t floor
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Bullitt Center building operations, tenant billing, and a full-time, on-site building engineer are all managed by Unico Properties. The engineer completes many duties that keep the center running efficiently. Some of these tasks include: managing the composting process, filtering the rainwater, and monitoring the energy use in real-time.
POST-OCCUPANCY PERFORMANCE MONITORING LBC requires a full year of occupation data before it can become certified as living. This ensures not just well-thought design measures and modeling but also that the tenants and building continues to operate as-planned during actual use. The monitoring of the Bullitt Center took place from January to December 2014. The building met, and in many cases exceeded, all of its benchmarks. Monitoring will continue for the foreseeable future but reporting directly to LBC will not be required. The center is currently running net-positive in energy (generating 60% more energy than it uses). Eight months of the year the building exports power to the grid, rather than taking from it. The Bullitt Center’s EUI of 9.4 (expected to reach 11 when fully occupied but designed to be 15) is exceptionally lower than even the greenest LEED certified building (around the mid-30s). Seattle is tightening its city codes to bring down the required EUI of all new buildings from the mid-90s to the mid-50s. The Bullitt Center is also ready for net-zero water. As soon the water district licensing goes through the building will consume all of its water from rainwater that is captured and purified on-site. The center has been running the systems to measure performance while they wait for licensing. Thus far, the building has collected and filtered more water than it takes in from Seattle Public Utilities. The composting toilets and associated processes have worked as expected.
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SUCCESSES AND LESSONS LEARNED USES: The team initially pursued a mixed-use program for the building. After much discussion and investigation, they found that it wasn’t feasible because of the increased energy and water demands it would trigger. These include increased hours of operation, more human traffic, difficulty in regulating resource use, and just a higher use of water and energy inherent to retail or residential uses. The team attributed this to the specific challenges of the site. Perhaps in a locale that receives greater solar energy the building can generate enough to offset these uses.
CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS: It was originally assumed that the building would be designed with a large atrium type feature to allow more daylighting deep into the structure. They quickly found that maximizing roof space for solar panels provided more benefits and reduced the risk of overheating. The space plan put workstations at the perimeter of the floors with conference rooms towards the interior. With motion sensors in the shared spaces that get used less often they were able to overcome daylighting challenges, prevent overheating, and maximize rentable space. The designers also toyed with numerous iterations of solar orientation. They first thought that a moderate angle would be necessary to achieve year-round generation. They abandoned this idea when their modeling tools showed that orienting the panels to focus generation during the sunny summer months would more than make up for the energy being used in the winter.
29 - Successes and Lessons Learned
COSTS: The design team started the process in a purely experimental mindset that ignored systems and materials cost so as to not deter from performance. In hindsight the team found that eventually the cost did become a real hurdle and they ended up making tough decisions anyway so it would have been better to be mindful of those costs from the outset to avoid value-engineering iterations.
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ECOSYSTEM SERVICES Ecosystem services are defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as, “the benefits people derive from ecosystems”. There has been a large movement to understand and quantify these benefits so as to better assess their value in comparison to traditional economic activity. A team of researchers recently applied this method to the Bullitt Center to assess the benefits it provides society and the environment. They analyzed just six of the green features but found an astonishing $18..45 million in benefits over the lifetime of the building (present value with a 4% discount rate). The features they looked at include: energy efficiency, solar energy, walkability, rainwater capture and reuse, composting toilets, and enhanced carbon storage in the forest from FSC wood. A breakdown of these features are included in the tables on this spread.
FEATURE
A N N U A L O N E - T I M E PRESENT VALUE (AT BENEFIT BENEFIT 4% DISCOUNT RATE
Site transportation
$32,005
$0
$2,930,000
Rainwater capture and reuse
$9,665
$20,650
$910,000
Composting toilets
$7,450
$0
$680,000
Energy efficiency
$112,027
$0
$10,270,000
Solar energy
$35,776
$0
$3,280,000
Forest Stewardship Council wood
$0
$368,824
$370,000
TOTAL
$196,623
$389,747
$18,450,000
31 - Ecosystem Services
“Biophilic urbanism – urban design that reflects humans’ innate need for nature in and around and on top of our buildings – can make significant contributions to a range of national, state, and local government policies, including climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
TRANSPORTATION Baseline impact for a building with Seattle’s average transportation mode share
5.431 kg CO2 per person per day
Impact for the Bullitt Center based on a questionnaire administered by the University of Washington
3.655 kg CO2 per person per day
Avoided impact
1.777 kg CO2 per person per day
Total person days per year (240 workdays for 136 fulltime occupants, weekend visits, events and tours)
90,075
Value of avoided impact (at $200 per metric ton of CO2) per year
$32,005
Present value over 250 year lifetime of the building (at 4% discount rate)
$2,930,000
RAINWATER CAPTURE AND REUSE One-time benefit of avoided impact on stormwater system
$20,650
Annual benefit (based on Seattle Public Utilities rates and estimated internal operating costs for stormwater treatment)
$9,665
Present value over 250 year lifetime of the building (at 4% discount rate)
$910,000
SOLAR ENERGY GENERATION
COMPOSTING TOILETS Compost produced per year
5,792 pounds
Avoided water use/discharge per flush
1.5375 gallons
Avoided water use/discharge per year
313,724 gallons
Value of compost produced and water use/discharge avoided per year Net present value over 250 year lifetime of the building (at 4% discount rate)
AVOIDED CARBON E N E R G Y EMMISSIONS PROVIDED
$7,400
Annual baseline impact (based on US average)
107.87 metric tons CO2
$680,000
Annual feature impact (based on lifecycle assessment of solar panels)
6.27 metric tons CO2
Annual avoided impact per unit Annual dollar value of avoided impact per unit (at $200 per metric ton of CO2)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY ENERGY USE
Baseline impact for the same size Seattle code building (EUI = 64)
.00880 metric tons CO2 per square foot per year
18.76 kWh per square foot per year
Bullitt Center impact (EUI = 16)
.00234 metric tons CO2 per sqaure foot per year
4.69 kWh per square foot per year
Avoided impact per unit
.00646 metric tons CO2 per sqaure foot per year
14.07 kWh per sqaure foot per year
323.47 metric tons of CO2
704,367 kWh
Value (at $200 per metric ton of CO2 and Seattle City Light rates) per year
$64,693
$47,333
Present value over 250 year lifetime of the uilding (at 4% discount rate)
$5,930,000
$4,340,000
TOTAL PRESENT VALUE
101.60 metric tons CO2 $20,320
Annual dollar value of direct benefit (at utility power rates)
CARBON EMMISSIONS
Total avoided impact
230,000 kWh ***
Electricity produced per year
$10,270,000
Present value over 250 year lifetime of the uilding (at 4% discount rate)
TOTAL PRESENT VALUE
$15,456 $1,863,000
$1,417,000
$3,280,000
FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL WOOD Avoided impact
Total dollar value (at $200 per metric ton of CO2) as one-time initial benefit
TOTAL
545 metric tons CO2 sequestered in the building for 250 years
141 additional metric tons CO2 sequestered in FSC certified forest
1,158 metric tons CO2 emmission avoided by building with wood (vs steel or concrete)
$109,000
$28,224
$231,600
$370,000 32
PROJECT COSTS The total development cost of $32,500,000 was primarily funded by the Bullitt Foundation, a bank loan from U.S. Bank, Recovery Zone Funding Bonds, and new markets tax credits (NMTCs). The NMTC program gives federal tax credits to individuals and corporations that invest in low-income neighborhoods. Through the NMTC, three community development entities (CDEs) were invested in. U.S. Bank gave loans to Ecotrust, MBS Urban Initiatives CDE, and the Seattle Investment Fund. Those CDEs invested in the development of the Bullitt Center. All debt will be forgiven in 2018 if all loan terms are met. The center’s impressive solar array and water treatment systems were funded largely by U.S. Treasury grants (Federal 1603 program) that they hope will mitigate the need for new dirty energy power plants in Washington.
energy demands. Aside from the energy and water limitations that reduced the ability to house mixed-uses, the development team also found that the surrounding neighborhood created a struggle for leasing. Some firms would prefer to locate to the downtown business district, rather than the culturally diverse neighborhood that the Bullitt Center is located in.
Upfront costs ran about a third higher than comparable commercial structures because banks simply didn’t have methods to value the longevity, energy, and water saving features. “Candidly, we had to put more equity into this building than we expected,” Mr. Hayes said. “We found only a very, very, very limited number of banks that would even consider making a loan, and the most generous of them gave us a construction permit for about 50 percent of the cost of constructing the building.” While the costs were about 22 or 23% greater than a standard building, the developers are using the project as a way of expanding the conversation about how environmental costs, ecosystem services, time scales, and externalities are assessed. If these are considered, the building makes “perfect economic sense”, according the Denis Hayes. Although the cost was naturally higher due to the nature of the project and its goals, the team believes that future projects of the scope and scale can be developed at a significantly lower cost. This is projected because they brunt the high costs of altering the regulatory landscape and testing innovative practices without a base. Reducing this pre-construction period would greatly reduce costs. Also, the site itself created cost challenges because of its urban context and shape. The building is nearly leased up with a few companies and co-working space. Rent in the Bullitt Center is surprisingly comperable, or lower, than other new office space in the city and some ‘actual’ costs are even lower. This is because of the plugload energy goals that rewards tenants with direct financial incentives to reduce 33 - Project Costs
“It has to make money, and it is” - Denis Hayes.
DEVELOPMENT COST INFORMATION LAND COSTS
$3,380,000
HARD COSTS Preconstruction
$450,000
Construction
$18,160,000
Owner’s direct costs
$2,940,000
Sales tax
$1,810,000
TOTAL HARD COSTS
$23,360,000
SOFT COSTS Architecture and engineering
$2,550,000
Permits and municipal fees
$320,000
IUtility expenses
$600,000
testing and inspection
$140,000
Other (sales, leasing, legal, admisitration, property management, taxes, insurance, bonds, development services)
$1,680,000
TOTAL SOFT COSTS
$5,290,000
FINANCE COSTS TOTAL DEVELOPMENT COSTS
$470,000
$32,500,000 34
APPENDIX
sustainable-building?newsfeed=true http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/realestate/commercial/seattles-bullittcenter-aims-to-be-energy-self-sufficient.html
REFERENCES: ( I apologize for the lack of any scientific citation style. It’s down to the wire.)
http://capitolhillecodistrict.org/ http://living-future.org/living-building-challenge/tools-support/understandingliving-building-challenge/transects
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/30/nation/la-na-green-building-20110830 http://www.seattletimes.com/business/ultra-green-office-building-breakingground/ http://www.archdaily.com/363007/the-world-s-greenest-commercial-buildingopens-in-seattle-today
http://living-future.org/bullitt-center-0
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/bullitt-center-tops-itsgreen-goals/
http://casestudies.uli.org/bullitt-center/
http://blog.2030palette.org/case-study-the-bullitt-center/
http://www.millerhull.com/html/nonresidential/bullitt.htm
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/01/17/net-zero-energy-building-case-studybullitt-center/
http://living-future.org/living-building-challenge/tools-support/understandingliving-building-challenge/transects
https://www.wbdg.org/references/cs_bullittcenter.php
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682724/inside-the-greenest-commercial-buildingin-the-world
http://www.bullittcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Bullitt-CenterFinancial-Case-Study-FINAL.pdf
https://player.vimeo.com/video/64281701
http://www.bullittcenter.org/2014/09/15/report-finds-18-5-million-in-hiddenvalue-at-bullitt-center/
https://player.vimeo.com/video/57114580 https://player.vimeo.com/video/43550184 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svg59BlEpVA http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/realestate/commercial/the-bullitt-centerin-seattle-goes-well-beyond-green.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& http://science.time.com/2012/06/20/silver-bullitt/ http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/seattle-bullitt-center-green35 - Appendix
http://www.bullittcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/bullitt_ report_7_16_14_high_res.pdf http://www.bullittcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Bullitt-ReportHighlights-FINAL.pdf http://neea.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/living-proof--bullitt-center-case-study.pdf?sfvrsn=6 http://www.aiatopten.org/node/427 http://casestudies.uli.org/bullitt-center/
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thank you!