Austin City Hall

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Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Austin's new landmark City Hall is distinguished not only by its unique architecture and state-of-the-art features, but designers also expect it to be awarded a silver rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The rating system, called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, is a national consensus-based, market-driven building rating system designed to accelerate the development and implementation of green building practices. In short, it is a leading-edge system for designing, constructing and certifying the world's greenest and best buildings.

The USGBC is the nation's foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.

Going through the evaluation process and receiving a rating from the U.S. Green Building Council is more than simply a prestigious designation.

"It's the right thing to do," says Deb Ebersole, on-site contract administrator with Cotera+Reed Architects. "Austin has always been green and this is a good way to compare ourselves to others."

Ebersole said that a team of architects, engineers and contractors were committed to achieving a LEED rating since the beginning of the project three years ago.

To achieve a silver rating, the City must meet from 33 to 38 criteria required by the USGBC. Ebersole says the City Hall likely will meet 37 of the criteria.

"This has been a challenging job. Our building is not typical. We're trying to blend the image and ideas of the design architect with real construction and the LEED's standards, and we're lucky because our design architect has been conscious of that," Ebersole said, referring to Antoine Predock, the City's design architect.

Some of the criteria the City has met in hopes of achieving a silver rating include encouraging urban redevelopment and alternative transportation, using recycled construction materials, recycling construction waste and using indoor products that emit low volatile organic compounds.

The LEED checklist is divided into six categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process.

Under the sustainable sites category, the City Hall meets the USGBC's urban redevelopment goal by building within an area that has a density of 60,000 square feet per acre.

To encourage employees to use alternative forms of transportation, such as bicycles, there will be showers, locker rooms and secure bike storage facilities in the basement as well as numerous bicycle racks on site.

The large trees, all native, will provide more shade and reduce much more heat than would the small trees usually planted at new construction sites, as will the four-level underground parking garage compared to surface parking.

Recycled water also is a big part of the new City Hall. For example, during excavation, workers hit water below the garage level. That water needed to be diverted and is not potable, so it is being pumped and used to water the landscaping. The LEED criteria require that more than 50 percent of the water used for irrigation be captured rainwater or other non-conventional sources.

Condensation from the air conditioning system will provides the source for a dramatic waterfall on the south plaza, cascading over massive boulders. Beyond its beauty, Ebersole says the waterfall is a great way to use something that normally would be not used.

Another example of re-use is how the City diverted more than 50 percent of the construction waste.

"About 80 percent of that is going to artists and schools, things like ceramic tiles, wood, concrete, aluminum," Ebersole said.

Also, many of the materials used in the construction are made with a high degree of recycled content: 99 percent of the reinforcing steel, 90 percent of the Sheetrock, 82 percent of the copper material, and 45 percent of the concrete masonry is recycled material.

The building's indoor environmental quality has been near the top of the LEED team's list.

"The materials we're using have low to no volatile organic compounds; things like paints, carpets, adhesives. So many people are sensitive to certain materials in construction products and what they emit. The indoor air quality if a very valid criteria," Ebersole says.

LEED also requires that at least 50 percent of the building's electricity comes from renewable sources. Austin Energy is providing the green power.

"Our LEED goal is very achievable and we're very comfortable we will be awarded the silver rating," Ebersole said.

She expects to submit the final application within 90 days after the building is complete at which time the USGBC has 30 days to do a "spot check" on the building and respond.

Facts At A Glance

   * Approximately 66,000 square feet of copper is used in the building. If pennies were still made of copper (they are copper coated Zink now), this amount of copper would equal over 12 million pennies.
   * The copper is covered with a light oil coating, which works to slow down the aging process. Because there is little sulfur in Austin's air, it is not expected that the copper will turn green, but various shades of brown, and in about 30 years, it will turn gray with a blue-green tint.
   * Sixteen 16 copper "clouds" hover over the audience seating and the dais in the Council chambers. Besides being aesthetically interesting, the clouds are copper corrugated acoustical panels that will improve sound projection.
   * Many of the materials used in the construction of Austin City Hall are made with a high degree of recycled content: 99 percent of the reinforcing steel; 90 percent of the Sheetrock; 82 percent of the copper material; and 45 percent of the concrete masonry.
   * Tons of limestone used: 1,576. Limestone boulders account for almost one-third of the limestone at 516 tons.
   * Limestone is also used in the dramatic waterfall on the south plaza, which extends into the underground parking garage. Condensation from the air conditioning system provides the water source, with an average of 486 gallons of water used per day.
   * Tons of concrete used: 22,600.
   * More than 80 per cent of the construction debris was recycled, with much of it going to artists and schools.
   * Workers hit a water source during excavation of the underground garage. Since the water must be pumped out to protect the foundation, it is being recycled and used to irrigate the landscaping.
   * All the trees and plants are native to Texas. Large trees are planted in the plaza to provide more shading and reduce heat.
   * Number of Plants: 1,500, including native shrubs, grasses, perennials, and annuals.
   * Number of trees: 11 large shade trees, 15 street trees, 17 ornamental trees.
   * All the interior doors are made of pecan, as is the dais, which also includes a band of wood salvaged from the Treaty Oak. There are 369 pecan doors in the building.
   * The Second Street point, or "stinger," as named by architect Antoine Predock, extends 49 feet from the building and 39 feet above Second Street at its tip.
   * The Second Street balcony is 13 feet above the sidewalk and provides a great view of Second Street and its changing face.
   * City Council proceedings will be displayed on a variety of screens in the chambers, lobby, and outside in the plaza.
   * All offices and rooms are wired -- 750,000 linear feet of cabling extends throughout the building. In addition, free public wireless access will be available throughout the building.
   * Equipment for Channel 6, the City's cable channel that broadcasts City Council meetings, will be substantially upgraded for the first time in almost two decades.
   * The building uses solar power through the photovoltaic cells on the awning covering the stairs on the south-side plaza. The cells will produce 9 kilowatts of energy daily, which is about the amount needed to power two Austin homes on hot summer days.
   * The City Hall is part of Austin Energy's Downtown District cooling system, which means a large thermal energy storage system makes ice during the night when the electricity is cheapest, and the ice produces chilled water for the next day. It is then used to cool the building, promoting energy efficiency.
   * Storage areas for bicycles, and showers and lockers in the basement, encourage employees to seek alternative means of transportation.

[NellieBly]

The copper thieves are going to be in copper heaven sounds like.