BULLITT CENTER

During the design process, the owner of Bullitt Center, the environmentally-conscious Bullitt Foundation hoped that the new center would demonstrate that carbon-neutral office space could be “commercially viable and aesthetically stunning,” a series of systems that can be easily copied elsewhere without being overly demanding in upkeep. It aims to be the first urban building of its kind and commonly regarded as ‘the greenest office building in the world’ - not only represents the level of sustainability possible in a city setting, but also signifies a shift in the actual process of how buildings are designed and demonstrates the range of opportunities for inventiveness and creativity that are possible when integrated design teams target aggressive efficiency goals. Since the era of harm reduction, half steps, and lesser evils is behind us, as a society, we need to be bold in ways that were once unimaginable. Therefore, to move beyond the traditionally linear design, an diverse team targeting on the exciting integrated design process was orchestrated [2-3].

Designed as a leasable Class A office building, the Bullitt Center also serves as a living laboratory to elevate environmental awareness and to visibly convey the benefits and interconnectedness of sustainable design with regard to architecture, energy use, materials sourcing, government policy and financing. As a regional headquarters for urban sustainability and education, lessons learned in the design process and the results of the building’s dashboard tracking performance will be shared to encourage the green building community to meet and advance deep-green sustainability goals [4].