Smart Architect Builds Dumb Building
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 03.14.07
It is not a sophisticated building, it is a throwback. It is the first office building in 50 years to be built in Seattle without air conditioning. It won't knock anyone over the head with high-tech turbines and acres of photovoltaics; It will just efficiently and simply use 30% less energy by doing things that architects have known about for hundreds of years.
To paraphrase the old New York chicken ads, it takes a smart architect to make a dumb building, and Scott Thomson has done exactly that. Got sun in your face? put on sunglasses on the building to stop it before it gets in. Want fresh air? Open the window. Want light? Make it shallow, only 35 feet from window to courtyard. Want air circulation? Put a hole in the middle of the donut to create a stack effect to draw air through. Nothing to see here that wouldn't be found in a 1936 Architectural Graphic Standards.
After all, this isn't Guadalajara where Carme Pinos took the same approach- it is temperate Seattle. Thomson estimates "there may be only 18 to 20 hours a year when the temperature will climb above 80 degrees inside." which is when you go for a Frappuccino- it is Seattle, after all.
Other features include "low-flow plumbing fixtures, waterless urinals, a highly efficient hot-water heating system and perimeter hydronic radiant heating that is individually controlled. With only one elevator, the use of stairs will be encouraged by making them visible and accessible to users and visitors. The exposed structure minimizes the use of finish materials, and good indoor-air quality will be achieved by using low-VOC paints, adhesives and carpet."
Thompson of Weber+Thomson, who will be the main tenant, says " Our goal is to construct a place that promotes a healthier environment by using energy, water and other natural resources more efficiently, which, in turn, will reduce our impact on the environment. A sustainable building uses design and technology that works with nature. It promotes a sense of community, a sense of place."
It is not the high tech, sophisticated technology that will lead to sustainability. The way to build is to do the dumb simple things that everybody did before we had cheap power, which makes this just about the smartest building around. ::DJC Building Green, ::DJC.com, ::Weber+Thomson
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And before developers got to "depreciate" the initial costs of HVAC equipment for 40 years, to lower their tax bills. There's another perverse incentive that should go away.
i still dont understand why all residential houses arent built with a passive solar design? i know there may be some places where it is difficult to achieve, but i think with this insanely large building boom happening, why isnt the sun being utilized [or not, for the summer time]? its our largest built in power source!
this building is great!!!!!!!!!!
its not being utlised because comsumer are not demanding it. that is now changing, but education is the key to change.
I find that many people do not equate the sun as a money saving technique. They think that it is a hippie concept, a fad or something that would not apply to them. Many people do not realise how easy it is to go green.
Amen to dumb buildings! So many "sustainable" buildings are chock full of expensive, difficult to operate techno-junk that will probably never be operated properly because no one can figure it out! Plus all that equipment takes a lot or resources to manufacture.
Passive solar and natural ventilation are not being used in all residential construction because it doesn't work well with the mass production methods of current construction practices. They require at least cursory review of site-specific solar radiation and prevailing breezes, latitude-specific calculations for window sizes and overhangs, thoughtful placement of homes on lots (facing them the right way.) Large builders with huge capacity don't include it in their building process, and smaller builders lack the capacity.
Well I'd say they don't lack the capacity, but it costs more. And owners would have to be willing to pay the extra premium.
If you do a study, I bet you will find that people working in this buidling will be thinner than average. Another advantage!
This passive approach is good to see, but before I declare this a sustainable project I need to know more about what was on the site before, how any demolition by-products were recycled, the source of new materials, etc. Lifecycle energy consumption of a commercial buildings is a huge factor but not the only one that needs to be considered. The article is a bit of a puff piece.
Lloyd, I honestly can't figure out if you're saying this building is lame or not... can you elaborate? In your opinion is this a great building or not?
LA: I thought I was pretty clear, I like it a lot, and am saying that dumb buildings make a lot of sense and that we do not need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to find where we parked it.
im a architecture student in dubin and we are learning how to design these style of passive systems in buildings, there is a great peice of software in deolopement called LTe which does all the hard parts liike count overheating days and the like. its mad that people would build with aircon these days.. the times we live in....
Reminds me of my old school: Designed in the 50s it has central courtyards full of trees, surrounded by "1 room + corridor" thick ribbons of building. It's main weakness is that it had an awful heating system that was murder to turn off. That and a pair of later extensions that were designed with nothing like the same care.
The thing is with these buildings, though they are lovely in summer, I suspect they miss a trick by not being able to store heat from the summer through to the winter. Heat recovery and ground source heat storage are not that complicated either, and can help massively to keep your building comfortable throughout the year.