I ran across an article on MSN that I thought was very interesting. In Seattle, Washington, an office building is in the process of construction that has a price tag of $30 million and will last 250 years! How do you say? By creating a “living building.”
This office building, a 6 story wonder named the Bullitt Center, will cost about a third more than a traditional office building of this size, but it will have an underlying sustainability factor that will pay off that third more cost in very little time. Spearheading this project are partners Denis Hanes and Jason McLennan. The expected completion date is in November of this year.
The sustainability factors used in this building will make it a net-zero building. The building will have power produced from solar panels, with excess collected energy put back into the power-grid in the summer, and then in winter, when there is less solar gain, it will take back that power to be used. Rainfall will be collected for building use, which in result, will make this building have zero monthly water and electric bills. WOW. Also, all sewage and wastewater is taken care of on-site and there will be no parking lot, only racks for bikes.
“We clean up our own messes.” is a quote from Hanes where he explains that what they build will self-satisfy and not put any burden on anyone else. It is a self-contained building.
Hanes’ ultimate goal is for this office building to be certified under the “Living Building Challenge.” And if this is achieved, the Bullitt Center will be the largest office tower in the nation that is a “living building.”
I encourage you to all go to this link and read more about this project. It’s very interesting, and I feel that this should be the direction all architects should be heading in.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/20/10226909-could-this-30-million-green-tower-be-the-future-of-world-cities
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