Puyallup is going green. In fact, the example of energy efficient and environmentally responsible building can be found in a number of construction projects going on throughout the city.
“We started from the very beginning of the process,” said Puyallup City Manger Gary McLean, about the new city hall’s green standards.
It’s a mind set shared by expansions occurring at Good Samaritan Hospital and Pierce College.
In the Puyallup area, the three projects are all aiming for at least a Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard.
“If they all hit at least LEED Silver that’s a great message to the community,” McLean said, adding that the new city hall is on its way to Gold LEED.
The certification process tracks how well a project maximizes energy use and minimizes its environmental impact from design to use.
The Washington State Legislation requires that a LEED Silver Building rating be evaluated in the energy life cycle cost analysis process for all new state agencies, state college and universities and K-12 school construction and major renovation projects involving more than 25,000 square feet.
Puyallup is no exception and the projects that cover multiple facets of the city show it isn’t taken lightly either.
“I think it’s great that others have chosen to do that as well,” McLean said.
The city should be proud that other agencies are making the investment in being examples of Green Building, he said.
Puyallup City Hall
For the city hall project, contractors recycled what they could from demolition of the building that was located at the site and have reached a 98 percent recycle reuse rate of materials used on the project.
“They tried to reuse when they could,” McLean said. “We started from the very beginning of the process.”
Everyone being on the same page is a big reason why the new city hall has been able to make the leap from tracking Silver to Gold certification, McLean said.
As the project progressed, ways to improve the energy use and environmental impact were realized from contractors to the project managers.
“They all came up with their suggestions,” McLean said, “and those choices as the project went on contributed to tracking Gold.”
Throughout the city hall project there are examples of how smart building can minimize an environmental impact, McLean said.
The building has three different roof types: one being a typical impervious roof, the second incorporating growing material and the third as using special plants and soils.
Any water runoff will trickle down a tube with lights that indicates the level of water runoff each roof type creates.
“The public will be able to see which type helps tremendously in reducing water run off,” McLean said.
Throughout the campus there will be art pieces from the downtown arts program. It will help tell the story of reusing water and using trees and grasses to help retain water, McLean said.
Water sources won’t simply come from city pipes to maintain the campus. An irrigation system is in place to draw water runoff to water plants throughout the landscape. And the building has a water vault underground to filter the runoff for irrigation use at the site and minimize water runoff from going into storm water systems.
“Which is really important in Puyallup as a way to reduce the threats of flooding in Puyallup,” McLean said.
In city hall, the building is designed to be narrow, so natural light can be maximized.
“It’s deliberately designed with a narrow foot print,” McLean said. “It saves power and it saves the expense of building materials.”
The windows open and close to be able to create more natural ventilation when it’s hot out and keep the heat in when it’s cold. A computer alert will go to city hall computers that tells employees when the system shows its time to have windows opened or closed.
A faux floor is in place to cover the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
“It’s a much more efficient way to have the heat rise up from the foot level,” McLean said.
The faux floor also allows for more efficient use of re-configuring office space without having to remove walls.
And having several city departments consolidated into one building, departments that work closely often won’t have to travel by motor vehicle.
“There will be more synergy,” McLean said. “That’s a benefit that should help everybody.”
City residents will also feel the benefit by only having to go to one location to work with the city, he added.
Patient Care Tower
Contractors for the Patient Care Tower project at Good Samaritan have been able to reach an 80 percent recycle rate for demolished materials on the project.
By reaching those rates it keeps a vast majority of material out of local land fills.
Because construction on the Patient Care Tower isn’t as far a long as city hall the recycle reuse rate for construction of the building is not yet known, but the goal of maximizing use is clearly in the minds of everyone involved.
It’s a mind set thing, said Allison Garr, Administrator for Campus Development at Good Samaritan Hospital.
“But it must be thought of from the beginning of the project,” she said.
There are economic considerations as project must come in within budget, but consideration for energy efficiency and environmental stewardship are a part of all decisions form inception to completion.
“Every one of your decisions is colored by that,” Garr said.
One decision was going with a green roof on a portion of the tower. The roof will use soil compounds and specific plants to reduce water run off. Plus it’s a nice scenic landscape to look at, Garr said. Completing the roof isn’t as quick as just planting a few flowers and grasses.
By learning from past projects the plants used will be more of the year-long variety, Garr said, so that people are not looking at a brown garden part of the year.
The Patient Care Tower will use light bars its windows that draw natural light into the rooms.
The impact is not only using energy efficiency, but also creating a healthier environment in tune with better recovery of patients, Garr said.
“There has been research done that shows access to nature and natural light increases healing time,” she said.
Creating a healthy environment is a core belief at Good Samaritan, not only for patients but also for hospital staff.
“I think people like going to work in a place like this,” Garr said. “I think in health care it’s a very easy decision (to go green).”
Because city staff already had a knowledge base for building green, the decision to build the Patient Care Tower as environmentally and energy sound as possible was also easy, Garr said.
When the hospital began looking at the design possibilities of the Patient Care Tower the city was right on board.
“We’ve had a great working relationship with the city,” she said. “You don’t have to start from scratch and try to sell the idea.”
Pierce College — Puyallup
Pierce College Puyallup is rapidly expanding it’s campus. Just recently the campus completed it’s Health Education Center and last week had its ground-breaking ceremony for the Arts and Allied Health building.
“We feel that this building will be at the LEED Gold standard,” said Tana Hasart, Pierce College - Puyallup president.
Each building uses natural light and more efficient HVAC systems. The buildings are integrated into the footprint of the campus, not only by being built green but also by using the natural landscape of the area to accentuate the complete campus.
“It really is a definitive feature of this campus,” said John Shorb, opsis architecture, who designed the building.
Along part of the roof for the Arts and Allied Health building is a green roof, that will use soil and selected plants to help absorb some water run-off as well as aesthetic appeal.
The water that does run-off will go through a soil deposit that filters the water before going into any sort of storm water retention pond.
In the lobby of the Arts and Allied Health building there will be a floor slab that is heated and cooled by water, along with windows that draw in natural light and open and close to create more natural ventilation.
The different elements lend to more energy savings in light use and ventilation.
“It serves a lot of mixed purposes,” Shorb said.
Building to a green standard isn’t just about being good to the environment. In the case of the Arts and Allied Health Building, the theater space uses a ventilation system that is not only energy efficient but much quieter.
“It’s providing the best theatrical space,” Shorb said.
For studio space the use of natural light is used.
Education is a piece of the green building puzzle too, Hasart said.
“Because we’re able to be successful in the project we become a resource,” she said.
The buildings aide in becoming part of the curriculum in environmental stewardship, she said.
The relationship the agencies have developed with the city has been imperative in going green, Hasart said, and an easy working relationship.
When the college was in the design phase of incorporating LEED standards into their buildings they didn’t have to teach city staff the vocabulary because they had already been familiar with the standards.
“They understand it. We share not only common values but common vocabulary,” she said. “This is a community as a whole that really takes great pride in environmental stewardship.”
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