LEED Platinum Certification for Tacoma's Center for Urban Waters

Tacoma can add one more to its growing list of LEED certified buildings: the Center for Urban Waters has earned LEED Platinum certification – the highest level of LEED certification for green buildings.

In fall of 2008 the request for bids went out for the project envisioned from the start as a LEED Platinum building. Groundbreaking for the waterfront marine science research center took place in April 2009, with the grand opening in September 2010.

The building’s design reduces energy costs by 36 percent compared to a standard building. The facility includes a ground source heat pump consisting of 84 geothermal wells more than 250 feet deep under the esplanade and parking lot. The building also uses natural ventilation and radiant heating and cooling to reduce energy use.

According to the Daily Index, among the features that earned the CFUW its immense amounts of green building cred were

 
• A 46% reduction in water use from conventional facilities.

 
• Water used for landscaping and toilet flushes is reused rain water and water rejected by the lab’s pure water system.

 
• A total of 12,000 square feet of green roof that filters rain water and naturally cools and insulates the building.

 
• A rain garden of native plants.

 
• Use of pervious pavers to reduce runoff in the parking lot.

 
• Landscaping using native plants to reduce need for water and fertilizer, and provide habitat for birds and animals.

 
• Use of recycled materials – siding is 65% pre-consumer recycled, and structural steel is 80% post-consumer recycled.

 
• Use of sustainably produced lumber.

 
• Use of low volatile organic compound products (adhesives, sealants, paints, carpet, etc).

 
• More than 99% of waste generated during construction was recycled.

 
• Incorporation of historic materials, including recovered granite curbs used as benches and re-milled salvaged timbers from the old Tacoma Municipal Dock.

This green building is home to a research facility focused on questions of improving and protecting the health of urban waterways.

The Center for Urban Waters is a community of environmental scientists, analysts, engineers and policy makers developing creative and sustainable solutions to restore and protect the urban waterways. The unique intellectual environment brings together organizations with complementary missions and individuals with diverse skills to develop innovative approaches to environmental restoration, as well as protection and to sustainable urban development.

Tacoma’s Center for Urban Waters has won a number of honors in the couple years it has been operating, most recently it was a major component in the Innovation Partnership Zone, which brought a couple million dollars in State funding to Tacoma for research and innovation projects.

Read more from the Tacoma Daily Index.

Previously from Exit133: State Funds for Tacoma Science Labs, Economic Development, Clean Water.