The engineering firm McKinstry, in partnership with energy provider Avista, has been a driving force behind the development and construction of what is being touted as one of the biggest zero-energy, zero-carbon facilities in the world.
Catalyst is a five-story 159,000-sf anchor building for a planned innovation center that will connect—via the under-construction Gateway Bridge—to the University District in Spokane, Wash. Catalyst’s construction includes 4,000 cubic meters (141,200 cubic feet) of cross-laminated timber and glulam products, which would store an estimated 3,713 metric tons of carbon dioxide and avoid 1,437 metric tons of carbon emissions. That would be the equivalent of taking 1,100 cars off the road for a year.
The McKinstry-Avista partnership is called South Landing Investors LLC, which is this project’s primary investor. McKinstry is the project’s developer and is providing design-build services. Katerra, Catalyst’s general contractor, is sourcing the engineered wood from its new Spokane Valley CLT factory. Katerra’s Michael Green Architecture designed the building. KPFF is its structural engineer.
McKinstry—which is also handling the mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, and electrical engineering—is working with the Living Future Institute to validate Catalyst’s zero-energy status. As currently designed, no fossil fuels will be combusted on site, with additional carbon sequestration efforts in play to offset emissions from natural gas ovens and other end-user appliances.
Eastern Washington University is leasing 57,000 sf to move its STEM program into Catalyst. Image: McKiinstry
Catalyst is on track to open in April 2020. It will monitor its operational efficiency via smart building management systems, thousands of IoT sensors, and data visualization driven by machine learning and artificial intelligence. The entire hub is also being developed to be delivered at market cost to ensure that it creates a replicable model. (An Avista spokesperson told the Spokane Spokesman-Review last year that Catalyst’s construction would cost more than $50 million.)
The building would be the first in eastern Washington to be net-zero ready. Its main tenant will be Eastern Washington University, which is leasing 57,000 sf to accommodate three programs—computer science, electrical engineering, and visual communication design—that EWU is moving to Spokane from its College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Cheney, Wash. STEM is the university’s fastest-growing curriculum.
That move will include 50 faculty members and 1,000 students. Within Catalyst, EWU will offer dry labs and modern, high-tech classrooms. Space will provide immersive education opportunities via a learning, living laboratory.
Avista and Katerra will also lease office space within Catalyst, along with similar, like-minded tenants. The City of Spokane has committed $430,000 in street improvements, water services and other infrastructure for the Catalyst building.
Related Stories
| Feb 14, 2011
Sustainable Roofing: A Whole-Building Approach
According to sustainability experts, the first step toward designing an energy-efficient roofing system is to see roof materials and systems as an integral component of the enclosure and the building as a whole. Earn 1.0 AIA/CES learning units by studying this article and successfully completing the online exam.
| Feb 14, 2011
More companies willing to pay extra for green office space
New CoreNet Global/Jones Lang LaSalle survey shows real estate executives forging green strategies that balance environmental, financial and workforce issues.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 10, 2011
Zero Energy Buildings: When Do They Pay Off in a Hot and Humid Climate?
There’s lots of talk about zero energy as the next big milestone in green building. Realistically, how close are we to this ambitious goal? At this point, the strategies required to get to zero energy are relatively expensive. Only a few buildings, most of them 6,000 sf or less, mostly located in California and similar moderate climates, have hit the mark. What about larger buildings, commercial buildings, more problematic climates? Given the constraints of current technology and the comfort demands of building users, is zero energy a worthwhile investment for buildings in, for example, a warm, humid climate?
| Feb 9, 2011
Fortune 1000: Despite moral obligation to sustainability, cash is still king
Eighty-eight percent of Fortune 1000 senior executives feel business has a moral responsibility, beyond regulatory requirements, to make their companies more energy efficient, according to a new poll released today by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Schneider Electric. At the same time, the vast majority (61%) of respondents say that potential cost savings are their biggest motivator to save energy at the enterprise-level, outranking environmental concerns (13%) or government regulations (2%).
| Feb 9, 2011
Businesses make bigger, bolder sustainability commitments
In 2010, U.S. corporations continued to enhance their sustainable business efforts by making bigger, bolder, longer-term sustainability commitments. GreenBiz issued its 4th annual State of Green Business report, a free downloadable report that measures the progress of U.S. business and the economy from an environmental perspective, and highlights key trends in corporate culture in regard to the environment.
| Feb 7, 2011
President Obama cites PPG glass, coatings in Penn State speech
President Barack Obama yesterday acknowledged PPG Industries as a leader in the development of high-performance glass and coatings for energy-efficient buildings during a visit to Penn State University that kicked off the U.S. government’s “Better Buildings Initiative.’
| Feb 7, 2011
GSA Unveils New Sustainable Workplace Design Tool
The U.S. General Services Administration launched its Sustainable Facilities Tool on Monday, Feb. 7. The innovative online tool will make it easier for both government and private-sector property managers and developers to learn about and evaluate strategies to make workplaces more sustainable, helping to build and create jobs in America’s clean energy economy of the future.
