Green building (sustainable building)

Sustainable or "green" building practices are design principles and construction methods that minimize impacts on the environment. Green building practices conserve resources and maximize energy efficiency. Research and experience show that using sustainable building practices offers many environmental, economic, health and social benefits.

King County established a Green Building Initiative in 2001 to strengthen efforts to make "green" building a standard practice in the county's capital projects.

Here are some examples of how the Wastewater Treatment Division incorporates sustainable building practices into its facilities:

• Dexter Green Roof
• Henderson/M.L. King Combined Sewer Overflow Control Project
• King Street Center Water Reclamation System-Wastewater Treatment Division Offices

Dexter Green roof 

A green roof is made up of plants placed on the top of a building in place of traditional roofing materials. Besides being more visually attractive, green roofs are very practical because they can extend roof life, and they can also reduce building heating and cooling costs. The green roof King County put in at the Dexter Regulator Station in 2002 captures and retains stormwater runoff, reduces "heat island" effects, and provides wildlife habitat in an urban area.

Henderson/M.L. King Combined sewer overflow control project

The Henderson/M.L. King Combined Sewer Overflow Control Project facilities were built with many green features, including an attractive green roof on the outlet regulator station that reduced runoff and tied in with vegetation on the nearby hillside. Construction materials and wastes, like dug up pavement, were recycled. The project also offered other opportunities for site improvement, including cleaning up soils contaminated by petroleum waste.

King Street Center Water reclamation system-Wastewater Treatment Division offices

In a first for a commercial building in Seattle, the King Street Center collects rainwater to flush its 46 toilets throughout the year. This innovative system is designed to collect rainwater from the building's roof to fill three 5,400 gallon tanks, which then flow in a separate pipe to the toilets. The rainwater from the reclamation system is also used to irrigate the building's landscaping.

The reclamation system enables King County to capture and use water that would simply be wasted. Because Seattle rainwater generally flows to the city sewer system, reusing it helps save our ratepayers money because the water isn't going to our treatment plants where it's costly to treat. The new system saves an estimated 1.4 million gallons of water per year, meeting over 60 percent of the building's estimated annual water needs.

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