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Federal Center South Features Advanced Energy Systems

Published 6/5/2012

Federal Center South, the nearly completed 209,000-sf regional headquarters building for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, features a host of innovative workplace design strategies, and is on track to exceed aggressive high-performance goals set by the client, the U.S. General Services Administration. The $72 million project is the redevelopment of an existing waterfront building in Seattle. Based on CBECS, the Environmental Protection Agency’s national database that compares building energy use, Federal Center South is expected to perform in the top 1% of buildings for energy efficiency. Substantial energy savings will be achieved in part due to the building’s integrated design, which includes a geothermal system with energy piles that provide enough additional heating and cooling capacity to allow the elimination of one cooling tower and one boiler, and will significantly reduce the building’s overall Energy Use Index (EUI). This accelerated, 18-month design-build effort, led by Sellen Construction and ZGF Architects, is currently on target to achieve an EUI of 20.3 kBtu/sf/year, well under the not-to-exceed 27.6 kBtu/sf/year requirement. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project. 

Organization
ZGF Architects LLP