Sustainable Courthouse Welcomes Community

"I HAVE NO LONGER ANY DESIRE FOR FAME AND FORTUNE,” said Constantino Brumidi upon immigrating to America from Italy in 1852. “My one ambition and my daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful the capitol of the one country on Earth in which there is liberty.”

Brumidi’s prayer was answered. His frescoes appear in the capitol dome’s rotunda, U.S. House of Representatives’ chamber, U.S. Senate reception room, president’s room and various corridors throughout the capitol. Thus began a long tradition of incorporating art in architecture for federal buildings and U.S. courthouses.

CONSIDERING THE SITE

The courthouse’s site previously hosted an industrial food-processing plant. Although remediation was unnecessary, Wandersee and team still had to reverse the negative impacts the plant left on the surrounding landscape.

By placing parking underground, which includes preferred spaces for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles, the team was able to restore about 37 percent of the site to natural percolation rates. Security-barrier planters and a landscape extension east of the building feature native and adaptive plant species to avoid irrigation and pesticides. Incense cedar, Saskatoon serviceberry, quaking aspen and European beech were planted

between the courthouse and nearby Mill Street to the west to provide windbreaks, sound dampening and car-exhaust mitigation. The trees also will shade the building from the sun when they are fully grown.

The native plantings reduce total potable water applied by about 59 percent over baseline during analysis. Automatic rain shutoffs and moisture sensors in the irrigation system ensure water is not wasted. In addition to improving the courthouse’s site, the facility now is connected to the Willamette River and Alton Baker Park to the north, providing generous views to building occupants.

Because the courthouse is built along the edge of central Eugene in a small warehouse district the

city plans to restore, it serves as a new civic nucleus and model for conscientious development. The area already has the sought-after amenities for smart growth, including being located within 1/2 mile (0.8 km) of more than 18 basic services and three high-density residential neighborhoods. Nearby public rail and bus lines connect the area to the greater community, and the project team worked with Lane Transit District representatives to create new transit stops serving the courthouse. According to Wandersee, the team was focused on making the courthouse part of the community.

“The design articulates the building-site perimeter to meet stringent security needs but makes that security transparent to create an inviting approach for users and visitors,” Wandersee notes. “Security barriers are practically invisible, taking the form of a series of cubic retaining walls holding turf grass. As visitors approach the main entrance from the south, periodic wall openings admit pedestrians to an internal public plaza at ground level.”

THE STRUCTURE

The 267,008-square-foot (24805-m2) facility has 5 stories above grade and a basement level. The first and second floors contain offices for the courts and their clerks, as well as several government officials, including the U.S. Attorney, two senators and one member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The building’s six courtrooms are located on the third floor and are paired according to function—district, magistrate and bankruptcy. Courtrooms range in size from 1,798 to 2,993 square feet (167 to 278 m2). Above the courtroom level are seven judges’ chambers and two judicial library spaces.

Unlike other U.S. courtrooms, the courtrooms in this facility are immersed in natural light. “Typical courtroom design surrounds courtrooms with judges’ chambers and jury rooms as an easy way to create isolation for security and make use of the higher ceilings required by court proceedings—in effect, land locking courtrooms,” Wandersee explains. “By locating jury rooms and judges’ chambers on the floors above, the design allows for the placement of clerestory windows along the courtroom outer walls and feature windows at the judge’s bench to bring in natural light.”

The natural lighting resulted in an estimated energy savings of 38 percent compared to a baseline model. Fluorescent fixtures with dimmable ballasts controlled by daylight sensors and occupancy-sensor-controlled lighting in unoccupied spaces further save energy.

The design team integrated numerous efficiencies with the mechanical equipment, including bringing in 100 percent outdoor air at night to cool the building; integrating a displacement ventilation delivery system; employing variable-speed motors; designing for efficient operation at average, non-peak loading; incorporating high-performance, premium- efficiency motors; and using high-performance glazing to minimize radiant heat loss.

Although GSA currently is discussing the future of underfloor-air distribution in its buildings, UFAD serves a majority of the facility’s spaces, including the six courtrooms. (To read the discussion surrounding UFAD, see “perspectives,” page 53.) The UFAD system consists of a raised floor on pedestals with air supplied through the underfloor plenum. Individual controls are

provided through strategically located floor diffusers. According to Wandersee, this system provides more efficient air conditioning, requires less fan power and provides better IAQ than a traditional overhead ductwork system.

Careful selection of low-VOC building materials further improves the building’s IAQ. In fact, the design team sought products meeting Diamond Bar, Calif.-based South Coast Air Quality Management District rules; Washington-based Green Seal standards; and Green Label guidelines from the Dalton,Ga.-based Carpet and Rug Institute. The majority of the flooring in the courthouse is exposed concrete, which contains no VOCs.

Radiant floors respond to high ceilings and extensive glazing in the atrium, jury-assembly area and third-floor public corridors. Depending on the requirements of the building, hot or cool water is piped through cross-linked polyethylene tubes that are encased in the concrete floor slab. A supplemental air system provides ventilation air and a portion of the cooling capacity for public spaces. Air is delivered through wall cavities to hidden grilles at the bottom of the walls, supplying air at low levels and velocities.

In addition to saving energy, the building minimizes indoor potable water use with waterless urinals and low-flow toilets, sinks and showers. Combined with sensors at public locations, the fixtures result in more than 40 percent savings over the baseline case.

The design team made extensive use of recycled-content construction materials. “The use of recycled steel and aluminum components, including rebar, structural steel, steel deck, cold metal framing, metal stairs, formed metal fabrications, stainless-steel detention equipment and furniture, aluminum entrances and storefronts, and factory-formed metal wall panels on the exterior skin, encompassed material costs exceeding 20 percent of the overall project expense.”

Construction of the courthouse generated 1,563 tons (1418 metric tons) of construction waste. By working closely with the construction manager and general contractor, the team was able to divert 1,407 tons (1276 metric tons) of that waste from landfills.

MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS

Completed on time and within budget in November 2006, the Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse hosts regularly scheduled tours to highlight its various sustainable attributes. In addition, visitors are enchanted by the art created for the building as part of GSA’s Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture. A piece titled “Jury Pool” features 108 colored discs with the faces of local residents, showing the diversity of the community and its connection to the courthouse.

Even those who don’t take the tour certainly can see the building meets GSA’s requirements. Wandersee remarks: “We sought to create a dynamic sense of place inside, as well as outside, while transcending the customary boundaries between them. The use of copious natural light, subtle but provocative forms and finishes and generous views of the surrounding city and mountain landscape coalesce to form a striking example of contemporary judicial architecture.”