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Owners, Laird Norton Properties, a Seattle-based real estate investment firm and Unico Properties LLC, a real estate investment and operating company, in partnership with Skanska USA, Brooks Running Company, and other key partners, announced today that they have successfully completed the City of Seattle’s Deep Green Pilot Program for Stone34, a mixed- use, 132,293-square-foot, commercial office building in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Due to a combination of smart building design and positive tenant behavior changes, Stone34 surpassed the Deep Green Pilot Program’s (DGPP) rigorous sustainability benchmarks to become one of Seattle’s most energy and water-efficient buildings – all while achieving competitive investment returns.
Skanska USA developed, financed and built Stone34 in early 2011; Laird Norton Properties and Unico purchased Stone34 in 2014 with Unico serving as the property manager of the building. Unico Sustainability, a division of Unico Properties, was responsible for managing the DGPP performance effort for Stone34, together with anchor tenant Brooks Running, developer and builder Skanksa USA, designers for the project LMN Architects, and several other premier partners, including McKinstry, the project’s design-build mechanical and plumbing partner. At the culmination of the 12-month performance period, Stone34 exceeded the energy, water, and stormwater-reuse requirements outlined in the program:
|
|
Average Building |
DGPP Target |
Stone34 Performance |
Percent Better than Average |
Percent Better than DGPP |
|
Energy Use |
17,376,171 kBtu |
4,344,043 kBtu |
3,674,682 kBtu |
78.9% |
15.4% |
|
Water Use |
3,819,980 gallons |
954,995 gallons |
696,098 gallons |
81.7% |
27.1% |
|
StormwaterReuse |
N/A |
352,990 gallons |
352,990 gallons |
N/A |
1.1% |
The City of Seattle’s innovative land use policy allowed for an additional 15 percent in buildable area at Stone34 under the DGPP, but only if the developer made deeper investments in energy and water conservation technologies, and if the anchor tenant, owner and mechanical and plumbing partner delivered the required building performance metrics. There was a risk of financial penalty to each of the partners if the project fell short of the program’s requirements.
“Congratulations to all who helped make the Stone34 project a success within Seattle’s Deep Green Pilot program,” said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. “Through strong partnerships between environmental advocates, developers, and policy makers, we are encouraging innovative commercial development strategies that reduce environmental impacts, test new technologies, and serve as a model for more sustainable development in Seattle and across the country.”
The building is located at 3400 Stone Way North on the popular Burke-Gilman Trail. Brooks Running made an early commitment to Stone34 and selected it for its new world headquarters and flagship retail store. Core to Brooks Running is its commitment to inspire people to run and be active; the combination of deep-green features and proximity to one of Seattle’s most popular trails marked Stone34 as the perfect place for the company to connect with runners and the Seattle community. As the anchor tenant, Brooks Running’s pledge to meet the performance requirements of DGPP and its employees’ participation in water and energy-use reduction were essential to the success of the project. Employees were encouraged to compost, shorten showers with the help of smart timers, and manually adjust window treatments to maintain a comfortable building temperature, among other behaviors. These actions not only contributed to the successful completion of this milestone but have the power to create lifetime behavior changes both at work and home.
“We’re excited and honored to celebrate this important milestone for the city of Seattle. When we moved Brooks’ global headquarters to Seattle, our goal was to find a building that connected us to the heart of the running community, inspired our employees and reaffirmed our dedication to the environment,” said Jim Weber, CEO, Brooks Running Company. “Stone34 isn’t just another address, it’s a thought-leading example of how businesses can live and thrive in deep-green buildings in the heart of a city.”
“We are pleased to partner with the City of Seattle in this forward thinking, deep green program.
Aligning our investment strategies with sustainable building practices is in keeping with our long term commitment to the health and vitality of our community,” says Jeff Vincent, president of Laird Norton Properties. “For seven generations, Laird Norton has adapted its business practices to serve the best interests of the Laird Norton family and community stakeholders within the neighborhoods in which we work and live, and it is exciting to be part of environmentally- and fiscally- sound projects that will have a lasting and positive impact.”
“We’re honored to work with the City of Seattle and our valued partners to pioneer a new policy that will unleash greater investment in environmentally responsible and financially prudent development,” said Brett Phillips, Director of Sustainability for Unico Properties. “For our company and our community, transforming the built environment by designing, building, and managing high performance buildings like Stone34 that are resilient and regenerative is a top priority.”
“The incredible sustainability achievements and success at Stone34 represent a milestone forthe built environment and provide a detailed blueprint for future commercial developments to replicate,” addedPhillips.
Now known as the Living Building Pilot Program (LBPP), the Deep Green Pilot Program was developed using components of the Living Building Challenge which is administered by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) and whom the City of Seattle uses as a third-party verifying body. Under the program, Stone34 was afforded additional building height in return for committing to meet the program’s green building requirements. Relative to average comparable commercial buildings, Stone34 was required to curb energy and water usage by 75 percent, and reuse 50 percent of captured storm water as well as achieve 12 out of 20 of the imperatives outlined in ILFI’s Living Building Challenge. Program incentives and requirements have since been updated under the new Living Building Challenge Pilot Program. For more information about the new program, please visit http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/permits/greenbuildingincentives/livingbuildingpilot/.
”Stone34 was Skanska’s development entry point into the Seattle market, and as a self-financed company we were able to take risks beyond what a normal developer would, because we knew it was the right thing to do,” said Lisa Picard, executive vice president for Skanska USA Commercial Development. “We couldn’t be prouder that Brooks Running, who also took huge risks, crossed the finished line at levels beyond our wildest dreams. Building design and innovation can only take you so far in creating sustainable buildings. These must be complemented by high-performance operations and top-notch occupant behavior.”
McKinstry, a full-service design-build firm, provided mechanical and plumbing services and managed the measurement and verification process during the year-long performance test period.
“We’re thrilled to have been a part of this building meeting the City’s high bar for sustainability, and are confident the benefits will extend through the life of the building,” said Dean Allen, CEO of McKinstry. “Stone34 is truly a testament to a thoughtful partnership between developer, owner, manager, tenant, city government, and community to grow smarter neighborhoods and, ultimately, smarter cities through deep green, sustainable design.”
“Stone34 showcases how ‘deep green’ design and development creates increased value for our tenants, our neighborhoods, our partners, and our communities. As a bellwether for sustainability, Stone34 stands as a leader and it has opened the door for the future of commercial Living Buildings in Seattle,” said Phillips.
Other key Stone34 partners include Fremont Dock Company; DCI Engineers as the project’s structural engineers; Swift Company as the landscape architect; WSP Flack & Kurtz, which provided mechanical/plumbing design during development; KPFF Consulting Engineers which handled the civil engineering; and Cochran which performed the electrical work. The other retail tenant at Stone34 is MiiR, whose flagship store features craft beer, coffee and retail that goes to support the development of water and transportation in less developed areas of the world.
Key sustainability elements and achievements at Stone34 include:
o Stone34 is a dual-certified LEED building earning Platinum certification for Core &Shell on the design and construction as well as Platinum certification for Operations & Maintenance;
o ENERGY STAR score of100;
o During construction, 97 percent of construction materials were divertedfrom landfill;
o A reader board in the Brooks Running’s “Beastro Café” tracks the building’s energy and water usage in real-time; an art fixture entitled “Fissure” located in the building’s lobby responds to the building’s energy usage “blooming” when power use is low and“wilting” when it’shigh;
o A state-of-the-art mechanical system integrates chilled beams, air and water heat recovery systems, and a thermal storage tank, and a highly insulated thermalenvelope;
o The site was restored with more than 7,000 square feet of native vegetation andurban agriculture including lavender, oregano, rosemary, strawberries, hops andthyme;
o A 65,000 gallon rainwater cistern collects and reuses stormwater for irrigation,flushing toilets, and feeding the coolingtower;
o Locally-designed sculptural bike racks with enough space for 30 bikes, 12 electricvehicle charging stations,stretching bars, drinking fountains, and shower facilities support alternative transportation and cater to tenants who run, bike or drive electric vehicles to work.
For more information about Unico and Unico Sustainability, please visit the firm’s website at www.unicoprop.com and sustainability blog atwww.unicosustainability.com.
