Solar panels, triple-pane windows and a cistern for reusing water runoff – sound a bit like the ZHome project? Try a fire station.
Brad Liljequist, a City of Issaquah project manager, is taking a few tips from his work with the sustainable home project and incorporating them into Issaquah’s newest fire station.
“I think they really informed each other,” he said.
The $8 million fire station is scheduled to open in June.
Today most buildings aren’t designed by the tenants, giving little incentive for energy-saving improvements. That isn’t the case for the government, which uses most of its buildings, he said. “It’s a good investment if you’re the operator.”
When working on the ZHomes project, Liljequist learned that their choice of foam insulation uses a greenhouse gas as a propellant. So for the firehouse, he switched to mineral wool, which is also a flame retardant.
Water from the 10,000-gallon cistern will be enough to wash the fire trucks and use in washing machines.
It won’t be used for putting out fires, because the pump system on the trucks is much too complex to risk breaking with debris.
In line with long-term savings, Liljequist also focused on using more durable materials.
Iron and copper piping took the place of plastics. The basement floor is polished concrete, which never needs replacement
“It’s a minimalist approach,” he said.
Tougher rebar means fewer cracks in the concrete driveway, and building’s exterior is a mix of aluminum siding and masonry.
“It’s the most durable siding you can come up with,” he said.
Even with the sustainable approach, the design focused on the firefighters, he said. “The priority has been to make sure that the green didn’t take over the core of the project.”
Instead of bunks, six separate bedrooms come with interior insulation, which make it quieter. Calls have been known to wake up an entire fire station, when only a few staff were needed.
The six garage doors, glass framed in red, open to the side, making it easier to see when they’re fully open. Firefighters have driven ladder trucks into the doors that haven’t fully opened.
It has three bays with room for a ladder truck, but Eastside Fire and Rescue hasn’t announced how it plans to staff the new facility.
The glass doors and skylights in the garage provide enough light for the day, a simple solution for cutting down on power use.
Drying rooms were built for firefighter gear, and the city expects to fill a large storage room with potable water and food for emergencies.
The whole project will be topped off with solar panels.
While firehouse 72 is one of the most sustainable fire station projects around, it’s just another evolutionary step for Issaquah building green, he said.
When the city opened firehouse 73 a few years ago, it was the first LEED Silver certified firehouse in the country, he said. “The city has been a real innovator in green building.”
