Our 4 Favorite Green Buildings

Working on a project with earning LEED certification for the property? Read about 4 of our favorite green buildings across America and why they’re great.

101 Seaport Office Spaces

(Boston, MA)

Project Blurb: Two floors of rentable office space (25,000 and 28,000 square feet) with bicycle parking for 180, auto parking spaces for 300, electric vehicle charging stations, fitness center, a 70’ wide retail promenade and more.

Why It’s Great: 101 Seaport boasts a rainwater reuse system, a 40% water use reduction, 30% energy use reduction, energy efficient triple glazing, and floor-to-ceiling high-performance vision glass.

LEED Certification Level: Platinum

Building Materials Used: Concrete core, locally-sourced oak from Boston Harbor, and high-performance vision glass.

Infrastructure: Active chilled beam mechanical system, composite trusses, and steel structure.

Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center

(Anaheim, CA)

 

Project Blurb: Though ARTIC drew inspiration from the more traditional transit halls like Grand Central, its design employs a futuristic feel of local air hangars with diamond-shaped arches.

Why It’s Great: An optimized HVAC system helped ARTIC reduce energy consumption by 50% and its convection currents ventilate the building naturally as heat rises. An additional pattern (frit) on the outer layer helps to reduce heat gain from the sun.

LEED Certification Level: Platinum

Building Materials Used: Inflated ETFE polymer (a tear-resistant plastic polymer related to Teflon now being used to create transparent windows or as replacement glazing) cushions, steel arches, and BIM (building information modeling) was used to achieve the building’s complex shape and explore both the building’s tolerances and environmental performance.

Infrastructure: ARTIC’s vault-shape infrastructure, along with its advanced mechanical systems, only assist further in its optimal energy efficiency.

Bainbridge Island Museum

(Bainbridge Island, WA)

Project Blurb: The museum’s 100 solar modules produce a 28-kilowatt output that makes it the first new art museum in the state to achieve a LEED Gold rating.

Why It’s Great: While low-flow fixtures reduce water demand within the building’s interior, 95% of construction waste was recycled.

LEED Certification Level: Gold

Building Materials Used: Made in Washington, the Bainbridge Island Museum utilizes solar modules by iTek Energy of Bellingham, microinverters by Blue Frog Solar / APsystems of Bainbridge Island and Poulbo. Twenty percent of new materials used were from recycled sources. All other materials, paint, and sealant are non-toxic.

Infrastructure: A 14 bore geo-exchange system under the building’s foundation helps to reduce energy used for heating and cooling by 90%.

Baylor Waxahachie Medical Center

(Waxahachie, TX)

Project Blurb: Baylor’s Medical Center is deemed not only as a place for those ill to become healthy, but as a building that is also conscious of its impact on the surrounding environment’s health.

Why It’s Great: In addition to environmentally efficient design and materials, the medical center worked to incorporate mainly locally manufactured materials for cost efficiency (and in an effort to reduce transportation pollution). Since its opening in 2014, the facility doubled its size to its now 300,000 square feet.

LEED Certification Level: Silver

Building Materials Used: Building materials include:

• Energy-efficient windows
• Infrared sensors on both public and staff restrooms to minimize water usage, light-colored roofing
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures, reducing water usage by 35%)
• Native plants that reduce irrigation needs
• Recycled materials
• sustainably harvested wood

Infrastructure: The building’s cooling system allows the cooling coil condensation to be cooled, collected, and pumped back into the cooling towers (creating a potable water savings of ~2.9 million gallons annually).

Bring water-efficiency to your next project without sacrificing design and functionality. Symmons offers an extensive selection of WaterSense® certified kitchen and bath plumbing fixtures to suit your project’s needs.