Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Wash., 90 miles from Seattle, is in the process of expanding its ABET-accredited programs for electrical engineering, computer engineering and science, and energy science.
As part of that process, the university is building Kaiser Borsari Hall, the 54,000-sf new home for those academic disciplines that will include teaching labs, research labs, classrooms, collaborative spaces, and administrative offices.
Scheduled for completion next January, the four-story building is designed (by Perkins&Will) to achieve net-zero energy and carbon, and a 74% reduction in outdoor water use. All of the building’s electricity will be drawn from rooftop solar panels, and that onsite energy generation and storage are expected to achieve a 63% reduction in embodied carbon and 100% reduction in operational carbon.
Western is also targeting Living Building Challenge Energy Petal certification. An element of that pursuit is the decision to use mass timber and cross-laminated timber construction. The glulam beams and columns, and CLT decks, were harvested sustainably.
“We’re not just building a facility; we’re crafting a sustainable legacy for future generations,” says Michael Harder, Vice President and General Manager for Mortenson’s Seattle office. Mortenson is the CM and GC on this project. Other building team members include McLennan Design (consulting architect), Coughlin Porter Lundeen (SE), KPFF (consulting engineers), Hargis Engineers (EE), Affiliated Engineers (M/PE), McKinstry (mechanical contractor and CM), VECA (electrical contractor and CM), Associated Earth Sciences (geothermal engineer), The Greenbush Group (acoustics and elevator consultant), and Berger Partnership (landscape architect).
The mass timber is being supplied by British Columbia-based Kalesnikoff, which last month opened its third production facility. The hall’s $73.6 million construction cost is being financed by public and private funds, and the building will be one of the first publicly funded zero-energy academic facilities in the region.
Once completed, Kaiser Borsari Hall will be surrounded by existing STEM programs and connected via skybridge to Western’s Communications Facility, 20,000 sf of which has been renovated. The hall’s courses will include the nation’s only interdisciplinary undergraduate energy program.
Related Stories
Mass Timber | Jan 30, 2023
Net-positive, mass timber building will promote research on planetary well-being in Barcelona
ZGF Architects, along with Barcelona-based firms MIRAG and Double Twist, have designed a net-positive, mass timber center for research on planetary well-being. Located in Barcelona, the Mercat del Peix Research Center will bring together global experts in the experimental sciences, social sciences, and humanities to address challenges related to the future of the planet.
Mass Timber | Jan 27, 2023
How to set up your next mass timber construction project for success
XL Construction co-founder Dave Beck shares important preconstruction steps for designing and building mass timber buildings.
Mass Timber | Dec 1, 2022
Cross laminated timber market forecast to more than triple by end of decade
Cross laminated timber (CLT) is gaining acceptance as an eco-friendly building material, a trend that will propel its growth through the end of the 2020s. The CLT market is projected to more than triple from $1.11 billion in 2021 to $3.72 billion by 2030, according to a report from Polaris Market Research.
| Sep 13, 2022
California building codes now allow high-rise mass-timber buildings
California recently enacted new building codes that allow for high-rise mass-timber buildings to be constructed in the state.
Mass Timber | Aug 30, 2022
Mass timber construction in 2022: From fringe to mainstream
Two Timberlab executives discuss the market for mass timber construction and their company's marketing and manufacturing strategies. Sam Dicke, Business Development Manager, and Erica Spiritos, Director of Preconstruction, Timberlab, speak with BD+C's John Caulfield.
| Aug 8, 2022
Mass timber and net zero design for higher education and lab buildings
When sourced from sustainably managed forests, the use of wood as a replacement for concrete and steel on larger scale construction projects has myriad economic and environmental benefits that have been thoroughly outlined in everything from academic journals to the pages of Newsweek.
Mass Timber | Jun 29, 2022
Mass timber competition: building to net-zero winning proposals
The 2022 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero is a design competition to expand the use of mass timber in the United States by demonstrating its versatility across building types and its ability to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.
Mass Timber | Jun 2, 2022
Brooklyn is home to New York City’s first mass timber condo building
In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope, the newly completed Timber House is New York City’s first mass timber condominium building and its largest mass timber project (by height and square footage).
Mass Timber | May 31, 2022
Tall mass timber buildings number 139 worldwide
An audit of tall mass timber buildings turned up 139 such structures around the world either complete, under construction, or proposed.
Mass Timber | Mar 8, 2022
Heavy timber office and boutique residential building breaks ground in Austin
T3 Eastside, a heavy timber office and boutique residential building, recently broke ground in Austin, Texas.
