SEATTLE, 06 May 2008 – Mayor Nickels announced today that two city facilities in Northgate won environmental awards from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Northgate Community Center and the Northgate Branch Library, co-located on a campus in northeast Seattle, have earned a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold ratings.
Today, 42 buildings in Seattle have earned LEED ratings; 10 are owned by the City of Seattle.
“Building an energy-efficient community center and library highlights our commitment to Northgate and to the environment,” Nickels said. “I’m proud of our leadership as a city and of the private sector’s initiative to build green.”
Green features in the Northgate Community Center and Northgate Branch Library, which opened in July of 2006, include:
- Insulated building walls, roof, and windows that minimize heat loss
- High efficiency lighting, boilers and air-conditioning units
- Access to an outdoor view and natural light
- Landscaping and roof overhangs that save energy and reduce glare in the buildings
- Water efficient landscaping that reduces potable water for irrigation use by 50 percent
- Forty-one percent reduction in water use through the use of waterless urinals and low flow showerheads, lavatories, and sinks
- A 148,000 gallon underground vault that accumulates water used for irrigation
- Protection for nearby Thornton Creek by the vault, which captures and cleans stormwater from the adjacent street and feeds the appropriate amount into the creek
- Maintenance of the adjacent park without the use of pesticides
LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally acknowledged benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit organization committed to expanding sustainable business practices.
Visit the mayor’s web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s inside view on efforts to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm.