At the corner of S Alaska St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Way S in Columbia City is BDR Capital LLC’s newest building, Encore. It is a certified Built Green 4-Star, 96 unit, transit-oriented, mixed-use, apartment development.

Encore’s sister building, the Sonata, is located across the street previously profiled in a 2019 Built Green case study. The two buildings provide 187 units that straddle the Columbia City LINK Light Rail Station. Residents will enjoy a short 15 minute commute to downtown Seattle and South Lake Union job centers and 20 minutes from Sea-Tac airport via light rail. With the opening of the Eastlink expansion in 2024, residents will also be connected to Eastside tech job centers as well. A bus stop next to the building connects residents to Columbia City’s vibrant cultural center.

Some of the Built Green credits that aided them in achieving their high score were using low-emitting products, no added urea formaldehyde (NAUF) millwork and cabinets and CRI Green Label Plus carpets throughout the building. Part of their energy savings comes from the centralized high efficiency gas water heater, the extra roof insulation above the sheathing, and the small rooftop PV array and green roof. Outside of the building, all landscaping is drought-tolerant, 27% of the site’s stormwater is infiltrated onsite, and 12 of the 14 existing trees were preserved to maintain tree canopy and reduce heat island impacts.

Other than the building’s green features, Encore offers a mix of studios, 1-bedrooms, and 2-bedrooms along with an abundance of amenities for the tenants. Amenities include a Rooftop deck with Mount Rainier views, BBQs for grilling and a pet relief station. Within the building, you’ll find a heated bike storage room and tuning station, onsite storage, and community lounge with kitchen, outdoor fireplace, lounge, and dining area.

The project is located near many public transportation routes, sits three blocks north of the Burke-Gilman trail and, with a Walk Score of 92, daily errands do not require a car. The building offers bike storage and a repair station to further incentivize tenants to ride their bikes, thus reducing dependency on cars and the project’s overall carbon footprint.

A large factor contributing to the project’s overall sustainability is its efficient use of space. Despite their small size (323 square feet on average), each studio includes a built-in Murphy bed, shelving, and desk. These fundamentals allow the tenant to create extra living space when they’re awake while still maintaining density in a fast-growing neighborhood.

To meet Built Green 4-Star standards and reduce the building’s overall energy consumption, the project focused on energy efficiency via domestic hot water, appliances, and lighting. Two high-efficiency gas tankless water heaters with recirculation pumps service the building, and water is sparingly used via low-flow plumbing fixtures. Each unit’s kitchenette comes with ENERGY STAR appliances as well as in-unit laundry and quiet, energy efficient ventilation fans. LED lighting is used throughout the entire building to further reduce the amount of energy needed for each unit and optimize building security. In addition, an array of solar panels was installed to help offset some of the energy consumed from plug loads, unit heating, appliances, and more.

Built Green Highlights

Site and Water

• No turf grass and drought-tolerant landscaping.
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures.
• Partial green roof with amenity space.

Energy Efficiency

• Energy consumption reduced by more than 28 percent compared to code.
• ENERGY STAR appliances and LED lighting.
• 1.7 kW of solar panels.

Author: Nina Olivier, Built Green Coordinator

During the construction phase of any project, there are strategies that can be implemented to keep the build site and staff safe and healthy during wildfire season.

Worker Safety

Naturally, outdoor workers – including those who respond to wildfires – are most impacted, both directly (from the fires themselves) and indirectly (from smoke and fine, airborne particles dispersed by the fires). The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries has approved an emergency rule to protect workers from wildfire smoke.

When it comes to protecting workers on job sites from hazards caused by wildfires, there are several strategies employers can implement.

• Conduct a Toolbox Talk on wildfire and smoke safety for all onsite staff
• Reduce worker exposure:
• Stagger work shifts
• Reschedule outdoor work
• Modify tasks that require more exertion
• Offer more rest periods and breaks in areas with filtered air.
• Employers are required to provide N95 filtering facepiece respirators to workers on days when the local air quality index for PM2.5 is 151 or higher, and when employers reasonably anticipate that workers could be exposed to wildfire smoke. An air quality index reading above 150 is considered unhealthy, according to EPA.
• Have an evacuation plan in place to avoid worker injuries and confusion should a wildfire escalate in severity. Some businesses are required to have an emergency action plan under OSHA’s Means of Egress Standard (1910.38).
• Additional resources:
• OSHA: Wildfire-related Quick Cards
• CDC: Preparing and Staying Safe During Wildfires
• CDC-NIOSH: Outdoor Workers Exposed to Wildfire Smoke
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Decision Making for Wildfires
• FEMA: Prepare Your Organization for a Wildfire Playbook

Preventing Damage During Construction

With the expansion of the Urban Growth Areas and residential construction into previously undeveloped forests and wildlands, build sites are increasingly at risk from wildfires. Known as wildland-urban interface areas (WUI), these areas are where houses are in, or near highly flammable wildland vegetation.

There are fire prevention construction strategies builders can prioritize in WUIs to prevent starting a wildfire and ensuring the safety of their project and staff from risks associated with wildfires.

• Prepare a hazard and risk assessment to determine the wildfire fuels, weather, topography, assets at risk, and the wildfire occurrence.
• Create a defensible space that acts as an area around a home in which vegetation, debris, and other type of combustible fuels have been treated, cleared, or reduced.
• Ensure access roads and driveways are wide and strong enough to accommodate emergency vehicles and provide access for necessary firefighting efforts.
• Strictly enforcing no smoking policies
• Restrict the use of space heaters in high-risk areas
• Properly training workers on safe work practices and fire prevention
• Storing combustible materials away from buildings that are under construction
• Placing fire extinguishers at individual work areas and ensuring workers know how to operate them
• Avoid starting vehicles and heavy equipment on top of dry vegetation

Building Design

Addressing the impacts of wildfires and the smoke they produce in Built Green projects during the design phase, rather than at the end, will go a long way in providing better indoor air quality, protection and resiliency from house fires, and higher value for buyers.

In fact, many insurance companies offer discounts and rebates to clients with fire-safety features that have been pre-built and installed into the building further increasing the home’s value.

• Select a development site that considers topographic features such as slopes, canyons, local vegetation, and weather that influence wildfire behavior.
• Keep garages detached from the main home as they are often ignition sites that can impact the main housing unit.
• Exterior Walls:
• Use siding materials that are noncombustible or fire-resistant and not susceptible to melting are recommended such as three-coat stucco, shale, metal, and fiber cement siding. A minimum fire-resistance rating of 1 hour for the wall assembly is recommended.
• Use structural insulated panels (SIPs) or Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) that have superior fire suppression properties to conventional stick frame construction.
• Roof:
• Install Class A rated roof assemblies with noncombustible coverings using metal, slate, tile or clay.
• Install eaves with short overhangs and flat soffits with a minimum of a 1-hour fire resistance rating.
• Install leaf guards over gutters to prevent leaf debris from collecting in the primary ignition zone.
• Vents that are a minimum of 10 feet from property lines and other buildings, constructed of metal products, and have corrosive-resistant metal mesh screens are recommended.
• Windows and all other glazing should be fire rated or triple-pane with at least one layer of tempered glass.
• Avoid materials containing PVC or Vinyl that produce toxic fumes when they melt or burn that are dangerous to residents and firefighters.
• Decks:
• If building a wooden deck use exterior grade fire-retardant-treated wood lumber, do not use Ipe/Ironwood or any other endangered tropical wood species. Add metal sheathing around the base timbers.
• If using a composite decking material specify a Class A or B fire rating, but avoid composites that contain PVC, which produce very toxic fumes when they burn.
• Install metal screening around the crawlspace beneath the deck to keep fire embers out.
• Increase the defensible space of the home by building a stone, paver, or concrete patio, instead of a deck.
• Fences and walls constructed of noncombustible materials such as concrete, stone, and masonry are recommended. Attaching a fence or wall to the building should be avoided unless the fence or wall is constructed of noncombustible materials.

For more information visit FEMA’s website.

Diagrams produced by ICF Homes of Virginia and ReadyForWildfire.org