Design-Build New Lease Construction Project for Department of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
The U.S. Department of Transportation Headquarters Project is a design-build new lease construction project in which major sustainable design elements were integrated in the design to improve the project’s contribution to the environment throughout its life cycle.
This 1.35 million rentable square foot office building will serve as headquarters for the executive cabinet-level agency and house 5,500 of its employees. In addition to the sustainable design principles, other factors that influenced the design include: the Master Plan and Design Guidelines for the Southeast Federal Center and the Interagency Security Criteria which establishes security standards for federal government agencies.
The project’s sustainable design approach focused on the site, general energy savings, materials, indoor air quality and water efficiency. This project, in November 1999, took the opportunity in raising the bar for GSA lease construction by introducing sustainable design principles into the project requirements. This was among the first few to incorporate sustainable design elements, and helped pioneer this shift in GSA’s leasing program.
Another major component of sustainable design that is integrated into the project is energy savings. The energy savings systems in place include:
- Variable speed pumping systems for heating and cooling
- Variable speed drive (VSD) fan motors for cooling towers
- VSD on all air handling units (100 AHU in the project) that are variable air volume (VAV) systems
- Water side economizers that process cold water such that the buildings do not have to run central water chillers during cooler seasons
- Boilers on the project have natural gas as the primary fuel with fuel oil as the backup
- Practically all interior lighting is fluorescent (over 20,000 fluorescent light fixtures)
- Low flow plumbing fixtures
- Low “e” glass with low shading coefficients to reduce the load on the heating and cooling systems.
The use of these systems results in reduction in energy consumption of 15-30 percent less than a traditional constant volume system.
Day lighting was another factor that contributed to energy conservation. In addition, strict indoor air quality requirements were built into the project that required the careful selection of materials, finishes and installation compound or cleaning compounds that would not compromise the indoor air quality. The carpeting and ceiling for the office areas required a recycled content (there is more than 1 million square feet of carpeting and ceiling for the project or an area equal to 17 professional football fields); all panel fabrics have recycled content; all wood panel veneering is to be FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified; there is practically no vinyl wall covering on the project; and all systems furniture and office seating is required to be Greenguard certified or registered.
Contact:
George Fields, Director, Office of Real Property and Asset Management
Office of the Secretary/Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
george.fields@dot.gov
