Brookfield Properties - DC Office

The Brookfield DC Corporate Office is a 25,903 square foot space located on the 8th floor of the newly constructed 655 New York Ave NW building located in the heart of Washington, D.C. Brookfield viewed this fit-out as an opportunity to raise the bar on sustainability and wellness and use the space as an educational opportunity for their employees as well as clients and visitors. Achieving LEED v4 Interior Design and Construction Gold and a Fitwel v2.1 Two Star Certification as well as currently undergoing the final review for the WELL v2 Pilot Gold Certification, the project is an excellent showcase of how the LEED, WELL, and Fitwel programs can overlap and coincide on one project. The 655 New York Ave base building is also WELL Health-Safety Rated, LEED Core and Shell Gold Certified, Fitwel v2.1 One Star Certified, and UL Healthy Building Certified. Both the office fit-out and the base building show a great deal of focus on the sustainable design and construction of the space but incorporate importance on sustainable and healthy operations for the employees throughout the life of the building and space.

 

The Brookfield DC Corporate Office goes above and beyond the typical LEED Gold project by enhancing Brookfield's sustainability goals with an added emphasis on human wellness. Through the LEED Certification, the team focussed on designing an energy-efficient space with an added emphasis on sustainable material selection. Through a detailed finish schedule review in design and ongoing discussions with the entire design and construction teams, materials were selected with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Material Ingredient Reporting (Health Product Declarations, Declare Labels, Cradle to Cradle, Product Lens, etc.), as well as low or no VOCs and compliant Emissions Testing for four key product categories (paints/coatings, flooring, ceilings, and insulation). Low-flow plumbing fixtures were also selected to ensure a significant reduction in water use compared to baseline flow rates. The project was also able to achieve 100% of the Locations and Transportation points due to the pristine location. Through Enhanced Commissioning, the owner was able to move into occupancy with ease and assurances that the space is operating according to their design expectations.

 

Through the WELL Certification process, the team developed a variety of health and wellness-oriented initiatives, please see the following list of a few of these key resources:

     A Health-Oriented Mission Statement was developed.

     Sound Masking Techniques were incorporated to reduce background noise.

     A Trained Building Emergency Action Team was formed to manage human-caused disruptions.

     Annual Indoor Air Quality Testing of not only the interior space but all the building systems.

     An Occupant Satisfaction Survey was developed to review occupant feedback.

 

Through the Fitwel Certification, the project highlighted the following wellness items: accessible staircases, treadmill desks, water-bottle refill stations, a rooftop restorative garden with fruits, vegetables, and honeybees, views of nature throughout the office, as well as shared spaces such as quiet rooms, multipurpose rooms, and a wellness room.

 

Water: 36.79% reduction, 14,462 annual gallons saved

Energy: 10.2% energy cost savings, 32,684 kWh annual electricity savings

Waste: 97.74% (42.34 tons) diversion during construction

Quality Views: 76.78% of regularly occupied space

EPDs: 33 weighted products (LEED)

Material Ingredient Reports: 21 weighted products (LEED)

Quality Transit: 814-weekday trips and 610-weekend trips

WalkScore: 98

Transit Score: 95

Bike Score: 93

Filters: MERV-15

Low-Emitting Materials: 78% Paints/Coatings, 98% Flooring, 100% Ceilings, and 100% Insulation

Diverse Uses: 11 uses within 0.5 miles walking distance in 4 use categories

Surrounding Density: 37,110 sq ft building area per acre of buildable land

Refrigerant: 63 average refrigerant impact per ton (less than 100 for LEED Credit)