The Bullitt Center, a 52,000 square foot edifice in downtown Seattle is touted as being the most environmentally friendly commercial building in the world. Set to open on Earth Day (April 22, 2013), the structure has been under construction since July 2011 and expects to have a 250 year lifespan, as opposed to the assumed 40 years of the average office building. It is a project built by the non-profit Bullitt Foundation, focusing on environmental sustainability.
The building is energy and carbon neutral, with a solar panel system on the roof and an energy conservation system poised to reduce the consumption to 1/3 of that a typical building of similar size. It will still be connected to the municipal electricity grid for times when electrical consumption exceeds that of the electricity generated by the photovoltaic panels. However, it can be expected that there will also be days when the electricity generation is greater than the consumption, creating overall neutrality in energy. The water and waste water treatment systems are designed to stand apart from the centralized municipal systems. The water used throughout the building is set to come from a 56,000 gallon rainwater collection system beginning on the roof, purified by UV light, and stored underground. However, this poses a legal challenge to designers, as the city of Seattle requires that water be purified using chlorine. The water system may have to be connected to the city’s water treatment plants if no agreement or compromise is reached.
The site also supports a lifestyle free of automobiles by encouraging walking, cycling, and public transit instead. Stairways are the primary modes of ascent and descent. There is no parking lot, only bike racks. All windows are large and can be opened, allowing for natural light and fresh air to be used as much as possible in place of their artificial counterparts. Cooling, water retention, and building aesthetics are greatly enhanced by the green roof. A geothermal heating method will be used for the building. The building qualifies as a Living Building under the Living Building Challenge by meeting various environmental standards and in being mostly self-sufficient. An example of a requirement is that none of the 360 toxic ‘Red-Listed’ chemicals commonly found in building components will be used in building materials and construction. The lumber must also be sourced sustainably.
Sustainable design is of utmost importance in a time where the availability of resources on Earth is on the decline but the demands of the 7 billion humans living there are ever increasing. An urban commercial building designed to be environmentally friendly serves as an inspiration and a guideline for future development operations. Hopefully in the future, the typical large-city building will be just as self-sufficient and health-encouraging as the Bullitt Center.
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