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/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / DECEMBER 2014
GSA Brings Sustainability
to Federal Courthouse
W
ith a portfolio of 1,576 owned buildings,
nearly half 50 years old or older, the
U.S. General Services Administration
continually seeks to enhance the sus-
tainability, energy efficiency, and economic viabil-
ity of all its buildings. According to the New Build-
ing’s Institute, themedian LEED Gold and Platinum
building in the U.S. operates with an Energy Use In-
tensity (EUI) of 51; over the last 12 months, theWayne
N. Aspinall Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse op-
erated with a net EUI of 7.3, or 86 percent more effi-
cient than the median high-performing building.
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvest-
ment Act, the $15 million modernization/high-per-
forming green building renovation of GSA’s historic
Wayne N. Aspinall Federal Building andU.S. Courthouse
preserves an anchor in Grand Junction, and converts
the 1918 landmark into one of the most energy-efficient,
sustainable, historic buildings in the country.
The design aims to be GSA’s first Site Net-Zero Energy
facility on the National Register; it achieved LEED Plati-
num certification in September 2013. The project exem-
plifies sustainable preservation, and has received a 2014
AIA COTE Top Ten Award and a 2014 GSA Design Award
with achievement in architecture, engineering, interior
design, and preservation. The project was completed for
GSA Rocky Mountain Region in design-build contract
with The Beck Group as design-builder and architect of
record and Westlake Reed Leskosky as design architect
and building engineers of record.
The project transforms the 1918 structure into an inno-
vative sustainable model. To meet lofty goals, including
energy independence and energy efficiency (68.7 per-
cent more efficient than ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007),
sustainable design included: building physics analysis;
a roof canopy-mounted 123kW photovoltaic array (gen-
erating electricity on-site to power 15 average homes);
addition of spray foam and rigid insulation to building
shell; storm windows with solar control film to reduce
demand on HVAC; variable-refrigerant flow heating
Sally Mayberry
Regional
Public Affairs
Officer,
U.S. General
Services
Admin-
istration
Rocky
Mountain
Region
