New South Florida Federal Building Goes For Gold

The new federal office building under construction near I-75 in Miramar, which will house the South Florida headquarters of the FBI, is seeking LEED Gold certification. Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is a program from the U.S. Green Building Council that provides third-party verification of green buildings. “Building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. Prerequisites and credits differ for each rating system, and teams choose the best fit for the project.”

Krueck + Sexton Architects, the architect firm selected by the GSA Design Excellence Program, describes the project:

This new 475,000 square foot Federal Office Building, north of Miami in Miramar, FL, is developed in pursuit of the 2030 Zero Environmental Footprint project goal. A project of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Design Excellence Program, this iconic, highly sustainable building design expresses the dignity, enterprise, and stability of the United States government, while the landscape restores the native environment by reintroducing wetlands and vegetation typical of the everglades.

The ambitious environmental project goal is achieved by a design process that rigorously follows three consecutive goals which build upon each other: reduction of energy & resources consumption, use of high performance building envelope & systems, and harvesting of renewable energy sources on-site.

The office building consists of two 70’ narrow bars which run in an East to West orientation in order to minimize solar heat gain, while taking advantage of maximum daylight on the office floors. The 6 and 7 story bars are joined at their midpoint by a connecting link, and enclose two landscaped, exterior courtyards. The façades consist of floor-to-ceiling high-performance glass in a unitized curtainwall system in order to admit a maximum of available daylight. They are dynamically articulated in response to sun angles, views from the interior, and subtle reflections of the surrounding sky and wetlands. Exterior perforated sun screens are deployed at the south-facing sides to shield solar gain before it enters the building.

A combination of rainwater capture, well water, and use of municipal reclaimed water will reduce consumption of potable water by approx. 95%. Solar photovoltaic arrays on the roofs of the Annex and Garage provide renewable electricity. The restored wetlands comprise a large majority of the building site, and represent a physical connection with the native ecosystem and local community. By careful siting and thoughtful shading, courtyards will allow the users of this Federal Office Building to engage regularly with the natural restored habitat. The landscape features, along with architectural shading devices, are composed to allow for a comfortable and experiential site arrival to the building.

And from the GSA prospectus, “DESIGN/BUILD FEDERAL BUILDING – FBI DISTRICT OFFICE MIAMI/MIRAMAR, FL“:

This facility will serve to meet the FBI’s current and future space needs as their new District Office in South Florida, and will consolidate their current space spread across the Miami, Miramar, and Dade County, Florida area in twelve separate locations.

This project will be designed to conform with the requirements of the Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service and to earn LEED certification. It will also meet Congressionally­ required energy efficiency and performance requirements in effect during design. GSA will encourage exploration of opportunities to gain increased energy efficiency above the measures achieved in the design.