When the world's greenest office building opened in March 2013, Seattle University students were there and ready to learn from this architectural masterpiece! The Bullitt Foundation’s Bullitt Center addresses the Living Building Challenge and is a zero-net-energy and zero-net-water facility. The six-story building is covered in solar panels, so even in rainy Seattle, it produces more energy than it uses on an average day. The 55,000-gallon storage tank in the basement of the building collects rainwater to meet tenant water demands, and most of the building’s waste is processed on-site. This includes greywater from sinks and showers which are treated in a third-story wetland treatment system.
Under the supervision of Professor Phillip Thompson, SU students evaluated the performance of the treatment system by verifying that the treated water complies with the Washington State Department of Health’s water quality requirements. Performance data for all of the building’s systems was then published and shared with architects and engineers around the world who are developing similar sustainable facilities.