November 18, 2003

Issaquah says new fire station is the country's greenest

Photo by Matt Todd Photography

A new building in Issaquah Highlands will help keep the master-planned development fire-free and uphold its environmentally friendly reputation.

The U.S. Green Building Council recently awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Certification to Issaquah's Fire Station 73, a $3.5 million, 11,000-square-foot building built by Port Blakely Communities with city funding. Sierra Construction was the general contractor.

The building uses a variety of recycled materials, including flyash concrete, exterior paint, acoustic ceiling tile and metal roofing, according to the city. It also has a biodiesel refueling station to power an emergency generator and service vehicles, and a 5,000-gallon rainwater catchment system to wash fire trucks.

TCA Architects and RH2 Engineers designed the building with help from Tiger Mountain Consulting, Paladino and Co. and Buck & Gordon, a real-estate law firm.

It is the only LEED-certified fire station in the country listed on the USGBC's Web site.

Brad Liljequist, a consulting planner and sustainable building advisor to the city with Buck & Gordon, said the building was almost completely designed when the team decided to pursue LEED certification.

"(The timing) did affect some of our choices," Liljequist said. If they had decided to pursue LEED sooner they would have put more emphasis on energy features.

Liljequist said LEED criteria added about $100,000 to the total project cost.

He said the city may not pursue LEED certification on all future projects, but it will probably strive for more green-building features.

"It's a first," he said, noting the fire station is Issaquah's first LEED-certified building and could be the first LEED fire station in the nation. "I think anything for the first time is something of a wake-up call."