Fire Station #20
Seattle, WA
The highest-scoring LEED® fire station ever certified serving the neighborhoods of Ballard, Magnolia and Lower Queen Anne
- A train station style ticker on the outside of the building provides passersby with updated energy and water use savings
- Extensive green walls and two green roofs provide additional cooling for the building and habitat for local fauna, not to mention stormwater treatment and mitigation
- Earned a total of 98 points, more LEED points than any other fire station certified by the US Green Building Council at the time.
Photo Credit: Forma Construction
Seattle Fire Station #20 is the highest-scoring LEED fire station ever certified. The 9,650 sq. ft., two-story station features two apparatus bays and replaces one of the city’s smallest fire stations serving the Ballard, Magnolia and Lower Queen Anne neighborhoods. Located in a high traffic area, the fire station strives to blend in with the neighborhood but also to educate the public, specifically about sustainability measures implemented in the building.
In pursuit of LEED Platinum certification, the project team has addressed the needs of building occupants by improving thermal comfort and ventilation, giving access to green space and HVAC controls, and focusing on healthy indoor building materials. The project earned a total of 98 points -more LEED points than any other fire station certified by the US Green Building Council at the time. When combined with multiple energy use reduction strategies, it is anticipated that the combination of a 35 KW roof-mounted photovoltaic array
and participation in Seattle City Light’s Green Up program will provide enough alternative power to meet the Architecture 2030’s 2015 targets of 70% energy reduction – a substantial goal and challenge throughout the design process. In fact, the PV array will provide approximately 27% of the building’s total energy use!
O’Brien360 joined the team during Schematic Design, starting with the facilitation of a sustainability workshop to identify project goals such as Architecture 2030 Challenge and LEED Platinum. O’Brien360 tracked the LEED progress through design and construction, ensuring that all points targeted to earn LEED Platinum were earned. O’Brien360 worked closely with the design team and contractor to meet project goals originally established, reviewing plans and submittals to ensure compliance with LEED, conducting additional materials research, and performing on-site daylight measuring.