Case Study: The Bullitt Center

The tactics that buildings should emulate, according the Living Building Challenge are in place relative its pedals, which are:

Site

The Bullitt Center is build on what use to house a one story restaurant with a surface parking lot. Many existing structures are simply demolished in order to minimize impact on the overall project schedule and associated costs. Builders also took into consideration to save the salvaged material from destroyed structure and incorporate it into the new design. 

Water

The Bullitt Center uses portable water, waste water, and grey water. The building is regulated by Washington State Department of Health’s Group for safe drinking water so that rainwater collected on the roof and stored so it can meet all of the building’s needs. The building sends its waste water to King County’s Carnation facility, where it will be filtered using natural processes and used to restore a native wetland. The grey water comes from sink and shower drains. They will be filtered, stored, and then treated in a constructed wetland, which is visible on the building’s second story roof. 

Passenger Train Station Sustainability Diagram

This is a Sustainability Diagram that I created from my most recent studio project of the proposed bullet train station between Houston and Dallas. 

Case Study: The Bullitt Center

The Bullitt Center is a six-story office building located in Seattle, Washington. It was completed in 2012 and designed to be the greenest commercial office building in the world. A non-profit group called the Bullitt Foundation built the building to focus on the upcoming urban ecology and tenant ready-spaces. The building cost $30 million to complete. Is one of the few buildings in the world to achieve the Living Building Challenge. It is obligated to create as much energy as it uses in a year, and capture and treat rainwater for all its needs for at least 12 continuous months and to meet rigorous standards for “Red List” compliant materials and for the quality of its indoor environment. In all, the building has acquired all the pedals of the Living Building Challenge and is one of the few to do so. 

This building is a clear example of how the future buildings across the world should model. It is one one of the few buildings of the world to meet all the requirements of the the Living Building Challenge, making it a marvel in itself. The world has been using basic energy standards for numerous decades and its now time for a change. These strategies should become more obsolete at a faster pace than it is now, in order to ensure more sufficient environment and to guarantee less harmful impacts that we are already emitting into the earth. 

The tactics that buildings should emulate, according the Living Building Challenge are in place relative its pedals, which are:

Basic Energy Principles

When designing, we must take basic energy principles, such as heating into account.

Heat is a form of energy that is particularly relevant to building designers. Heating, cooling, and lighting involves the addition or subtraction of heat. That is why the basic measurement of how heat is transferred and stored is required. Without a temperature difference, there can not be a transfer of energy. 

The three primary devices of heat are conduction, convection, and radiation. Conduction requires a direct physical contact. Convection requires a movement of a fluid such as air or water. Radiation occurs between surface. 

Standard Energy Issues

The world has evolved and created new technologies as the climate environments has changed. Present-day building occupants expect a high level of comfort, even under extreme weather conditions. The power of thermal and visual comfort use to be in the hands of the architect until new technologies such as, the air conditioner, heaters, and light fixtures changed the way a building could be designed. These technologies made quite a big evolution in architectural design from the nine-tenth century up to now. 

However, a lot of those innovations have relied on non-renewable resources which could harm our environment even more. Just new technologies were set in place during the nine-tenth century , new technologies are needed to be set in place to compensate for our environment and the dramatic change in climate. Energy Standards that are set in place should be changed in order to reduce the amount of harm we are doing to our environment.     

Sustainable Neighborhoods and Communities

A sustainable community is simply as a neighborhood, town, or city that finds their own ways to use their resources as efficient as possible. Not only do sustainable cities help reduce environmental stress, but cities with strong government support for green practices will see money pumped into smaller communities, improving the educational system and walkability aspect in one fell swoop. Individual contributions to sustainability are great for home value, but communities that engage on a more comprehensive level will see sustainable efforts improve individual and neighborhood circumstances. We also have to take a stand on where we have communities where families, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces minimize biologically and socially toxic events, richly reinforce social behavior, and  foster psychological acceptance. Such interventions also have the potential to make neighborhoods more sustainable. If you’re looking to embrace modern housing trends, fostering a sustainable neighborhood should be one of your priorities.

Rainfall Collection

Rainwater harvesting is the gathering, or accumulating and storing, of rainwater for small irrigation and a way to increase ground water levels. The benefits of implementing the rainwater harvesting system is that it reduces water supply, and reduces run-off, erosion, and contamination of surface water.The best thing about rainwater is that it is free from pollutants as well as salts, minerals, and other natural and man-made contaminants. In areas where there is excess rainfall, the surplus rainwater can be used recharge ground water through artificial recharge techniques. The water can essentially be used for fire defense, landscaping, wildlife and livestock, used in residential homes. According to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension service, rain water is calculated by:

-Catchment area (ft2)

-Collection efficiency (%)

-Initial tank volume (gal)

-Tank size (gal)

-Plant water use coeff.

-Irrigated area (ft2)

-Monthly indoor demand (gal)

-Average monthly rainfall (in.)

-Average PET (in.)

-AC condensate (gal)

To calculate rain water collection, here is a link to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension service calculator: http://rainwaterharvesting.tamu.edu/files/2011/08/AgriLife-Ext-RWH-Calculator.xlsx