Architecture Firm:
MITHUN
Completion Date:
Phase 1 completion estimated 2009
Project Format (not yet built / built):
Not Yet Built
Project Size (sf / site acreage):
24,018 sf for Phase 1 buildings, 4.8 Acre site
Project Location:
Bremerton, Wash.
Interior Designer:
MITHUN
General Contractor:
Not determined
Landscape Designer:
MITHUN
Lighting Consultant:
Flack + Kurtz
Structural Engineer:
Yu & Trochalakis, PLLC
Mechanical Engineer:
Flack + Kurtz
Electrical Engineer:
Flack + Kurtz
Commissioning Agent:
Not determined
Air Quality Consultant:
Not determined
Civil Engineer:
SvR Design Company
Other:
Daylight Consultant: Better Bricks / Daylighting Lab, Cost Estimation: Roen Associates, Sustainability Advisors / LEED: O’Brien & Company, Acoustical Consultant: Sparling, Economic Cost Analysis: Heartland
Owner:
Port of Bremerton
Sustainable Sites:
The Kitsap SEED Project is a Port of Bremerton Initiative seeking to integrate Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) within a world-class campus for clean energy technology companies. The project goal is to showcase the highest level of sustainable development and business operating practices.
The site for Kitsap SEED is a former naval dumping ground. It was chosen specifically to utilize a highly disturbed site area instead of adjacent second and third growth forest. The project site design incorporates aggressive measures to re-vegetate the site with native forest and meadow species and to increase bioretention, in order for all stormwater to be captured and infiltrated on site.
The project site strategies focus on low-impact development (LID) and aggressive stormwater management. The concept follows the 65/10/0 strategy in which 65 percent of the site is left undisturbed, 10 percent is allowable impervious surface and zero percent is the net increase in runoff. To achieve this strategy, the project utilizes porous paving, a vegetated roof system and strategic planting and soil layers to promote bioretention.
Located across from the Bremerton Airport, the site is efficiently close to existing local industries and resources. The project is intended as a catalyst for economic growth in the clean technology sector and to serve as a model for sustainable development.
In addition to industry integration, the site location enjoys proximity to several local colleges and university satellite campuses, which will allow for collaboration, research and product development in concert with higher education research. Students training for green collar jobs will potentially offer a needed workforce for developing companies at the Kitsap SEED campus.
Toward Zero Energy:
Kitsap SEED maintains a LEED Platinum certification target, with energy-use reduction and on-site energy production as two primary goals. The buildings were conceived as a ship or machine where all systems are exposed to promote user awareness and understanding of energy use and conveyance. Even the mechanical room has transparent glazing to highlight the heat pumps and other equipment within. This strategy allows for typically invisible sustainable technology to serve as a teaching tool for users and visitors.
The project contains three sources of renewable energy:
1. Geo-thermal heat pumps extract heat and cool from the earth to warm or chill the radiant concrete slabs.
2. Rooftop solar-thermal collectors harness solar energy to heat water and are integrated with the geo-thermal system.
3. Rooftop and ground-mounted photovoltaic cells convert solar energy directly into electricity.
In addition to producing energy on-site, the design reduces the demand for energy with high thermal mass and passive cooling. Operable windows, ceiling fans and lighting controls allow users to be in control of their environment. CMU “chimneys” provide structural bracing, passive thermal mass, daylight penetration and allow for natural stack-effect cooling to condition interior spaces.
Local and Sustainable Materials:
Kitsap SEED will utilize local and regional materials to the greatest extent possible.
Siding and interior finishes will be FSC locally harvested cedar and fir. Structural insulated panels (SIPs), locally manufactured with FSC wood, will provide a super-insulated building envelope to minimize energy use and secondary framing material needed for the project. In addition to high-recycled content in most materials, the structural concrete will incorporate a high-flyash content to replace Portland cement content and reduce overall embodied energy.
The finished project will engage local industries and suppliers as part of a long-term strategy to conserve energy and promote local economy and industry. The campus also will provide an armature for the emerging technology that develops within it, serving as a living laboratory to incorporate new products into its operations and to demonstrate and test clean technology development.
Sustainable Water:
In addition to the aggressive site stormwater strategies, the project will minimize the amount of potable water use through low-flow plumbing fixtures, stormwater capture and reuse for greywater and blackwater treatment and reuse through a membrane reactor system. Drought tolerant native plantings will require a minimal amount of irrigation water for establishment only.
IEQ and Comfort:
While the performance and demonstration of building systems is essential to the success of the project, the comfort and health of its occupants is equally important. To maximize user comfort, the project incorporates a high degree of controllability for interior spaces for lighting, ventilation and views, which in turn fosters a strong sense of connectedness to the exterior environment.
Material and finish selections achieve LEED criteria for minimizing or eliminating VOC and urea-formaldehyde content to ensure good indoor air quality for users. The project also pays great attention to the balance of secure, acoustically isolated working spaces with open gathering opportunities and access to exterior landscape areas. This balance of intellectual property security and open collaboration allows user choice and comfort and will enable Kitsap SEED to be a sanctuary for research, development and collaboration.
Collective Wisdom and Feedback:
Kitsap SEED is the result of integrated collaboration between architects, landscape architects, interior designers, consulting engineers, ecologists and clean tech incubator experts. The design and host of chosen sustainability strategies have drawn on the expertise of many disciplines to ensure that it will achieve success on a variety of needed levels. This design process is iterative and has been tested at each phase to ensure ongoing validity for the chosen strategies.
Regional/Community Design:
A primary contribution of this facility will be its impact on fledgling companies. Motivated and inspired by the supportive environment of the Kitsap SEED, companies will be spurred to make many advances and developments. The project will have long-lasting impacts and engagement with the larger community and region though helping to bridge the traditional gaps for these clean tech startup organizations and fostering collaboration with higher education institutions. As the global marketplace is demanding increased research in these areas, the Kitsap SEED project will place Washington State at the forefront of the effort.
