The six-storey, 52,000-square-foot, net-positive office building that houses the Seattle-based Bullitt Foundation is the first of its size in the U.S. and “stands as a shining example” of what others can achieve, Interface’s Jean Nayar reports in a recent blog post.
The building was designed to the Living Building standard, which mean it had to generate as much energy as it consumed and use rainwater for all purposes, including drinking water.
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“Other buildings have been designed to meet these sustainable standards, but they are small—usually 2,000 to 6,000 square feet,” said Earth Day founder and Bullitt Foundation President Denis Hayes.
“We wanted to dramatically increase the scale and felt it was doable. Even if we set out and failed, we thought it was still a heroic leap. So we decided, why not aim for the moon and give it a shot? We wanted to be taken seriously, not only by the academic community, but also by those who actually build.”
Bullitt Center tenants include the International Living Future Institute, the organization that sets the Living Building certification.
