The U.S. Forest Service district office in Truckee has received gold level certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

This is the first LEED certified building for the Forest Service in all of the Pacific Southwest Region.

The rating is achieved partly in the design process, partly in the construction process and will be confirmed in the operation of the building over time. The site design was completed by Gary Davis Group and the building design was by Ward Young Architecture in collaboration with Beaudin-Ganze Consulting Engineers. The contractor was Geney/Gassiot INC General Contractors and the commissioning performed by Bender Engineering. They are all Truckee firms.

The U.S. Forest Service office in Truckee is LEED certified gold. Photo/Provided

The ranger district office building utilizes an open floor plan, which meets several objectives. It allows for easy communication, great use of natural light and by taking advantage of the site’s southern exposure, it allows the design to maximize solar gain in the winter. The solar gain is achieved through a two-story south facing sunspace corridor, which has slate floors, concrete block half walls and high performance windows that allow high passive solar heat gain and minimize heat loss. The windows in the buildings were designed to allow the occupants to view the outdoors, including a view of Lookout Mountain from almost every part of the building.

Skylights at the ridge and light wells through the second floor bring natural light into the center of the building. Automatic lighting control systems measure daylight and dim electric lights accordingly. The architectural, mechanical and electrical design projects savings of more than 50 percent for electricity and natural gas compared to California and industry standards.

During the construction, over three-quarters of onsite generated construction waste was diverted from the landfill and recycled products were used for structural steel, building insulation, aluminum doors, and other products. More than half of the materials were harvested or manufactured regionally and products used were within healthy indoor environmental standards.