First "Salmon Safe" Building in Seattle

Seattle's new EMP Museum administrative office building is the first urban in-fill project anywhere to be certified as "salmon safe," according to a press release issued by Howard S. Wright, the property builder. The EMP Museum in Seattle, Washington, received a LEED® Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is the first Salmon-Safe certified urban in-fill project to date and the first Salmon-Safe certified office building in Seattle.

Salmon-Safe, a Portland nonprofit, certifies projects that protect water quality and restore habitat, according to a Puget Sound Business Journal article. The nonprofit recognizes construction companies that implement pollution control and runoff protection measures in all of their projects.

"Our primary focus was to achieve the owner's goal of constructing a LEED Platinum building," said Brad Phillips, senior project manager at at Howard S. Wright. "We knew that in order to achieve this goal, we had to design and build an extremely high performing building envelope, and also include a high percentage of natural light – a challenge the team took to heart."

Construction on the 51,200 square foot concrete structure with four levels above grade, and one level below, began in October 2011 and was completed in June 2013 by developer Vulcan, Inc. The facility houses additional space for the Museum and includes office space, workshops, and acclimatized collections storage. Owned by Cedar Strands Properties, the project was designed by Collins Woerman of Seattle, Washington, and also earned a 2013 ENR Best Project Award for Office/Retail/Mixed-Use Developments in the Northwest in December.

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