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    Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building is named Sustainable Project of the Year by the Better Bricks awards program

    August 25, 2014


    PORTLAND, Ore. – The Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, built by Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company, was recently named the 2014 Sustainable Project of the Year by the Portland Business Journal. The LEED Platinum project boasts sustainable features like the conversion of a firing range into a 170,000 gallon rainwater collection tank, a roof canopy with 180kw photovoltaic array which doubles as a rainwater collection surface, dedicated outside air supply used for ventilation, radiant heating/cooling, and six passenger elevators that generate electricity as they descend.

    The award was presented on August 22 at the Better Bricks Commercial Real Estate Awards Breakfast. The Better Bricks awards program celebrates companies and individuals in the commercial real estate industry who have contributed to making Portland an innovative urban area.

    The company, along with the General Services Association (GSA) and SERA architects, was recognized. “We are honored to be recognized for our team’s work on the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building,” stated Jim Sather, Oregon division president. “This award is a testament to the hard work of all those involved in the project and the meaningful partnership we have built with GSA and SERA.”

    Project background:

    The LEED Platinum $137 million Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building project is a high performance green building project. The scope included the renovation of the existing 20-floor office tower in Portland, Oregon. The building, originally built in 1974, is owned by the GSA and includes 17 levels of office space, a two-story lobby at the ground floor entrance, two levels of below-grade parking, and surrounding site work.

    Through the efficiencies from the systems and envelope revisions, the team generated unique results that included a re-allocation of space for the floors that increased the gross building area by two additional floors of rentable area for a total of 525,421 square feet. This modernized building is among the most efficient facilities in the GSA portfolio – it reduces energy consumption by over 50% from baseline metrics and met all project performance, schedule, and financial goals.