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Tacoma Power's New Shops Building is LEED Certified
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| New shops
building featuring an array of skylights for interior
daylighting |
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| Ken Kurtz
explaining the efficient lighting combining daylighting and
efficient fluorescent. |
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| Photo
shows the demolition of the old shops building with the new
shops in the background |
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Tacoma Power's new shops building has all of the practical attributes
required for the utility's craft shops for transformers, welding,
carpentry, painting and other necessities. But the building also has
other attributes - features that add energy efficiency and environmental
friendliness to the 55,000-square-foot building and provide a work space
that's comfortable and efficient.
Tacoma Power used building criteria from the Building Council's
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and
received
green building certification from that organization. Gary Johnson, a
Tacoma Power mechanical engineer and energy expert, ensured that the
building met as many LEED standards as it could.
"Most LEED buildings are offices," Johnson said. "Many
of the typical environmental features - low-water landscaping or carpet
with low-levels of emissions that can affect indoor air quality - just
don't apply to an industrial building. Nevertheless, we were able to
incorporate many green design features into the building."
The shops, with 20-foot ceilings, use high-efficiency fluorescent
lighting. They also have skylights - and a system that automatically
turns off some of the lights when natural daylight reaches a certain
level. Lighting fixtures are on occupancy sensors and have dimming
controls. The heating and cooling system also takes advantage of
energy-saving technologies.
Hot water for work sinks and in restrooms comes from "instant
hot" fixtures, not from traditional water heaters.
Johnson estimates the building uses at least 40 percent less
electricity than a similar building with standard lighting, heating and
hot water systems.
Many of the materials used in the building meet LEED thresholds for
recycled content and for being produced locally, which reduces the
environmental impacts of transportation. Additionally, 97 percent of the
construction waste was recycled instead of going to a landfill. The
building also has facilities for storing and collecting recyclable
paper, cardboard, glass, plastics and metals to keep them out of
landfills.
Other features include ozone-friendly refrigerants for the cooling
system and adhesives, sealants and paints with low emissions.
"LEED forces you to look at your whole building, both in
planning and execution," Johnson said. "We learned a lot on
this building that will be valuable for future projects within Tacoma
Power and to help our customers who are considering energy and
environmental factors in their buildings.
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