Rating is second highest level attainable under national green program
July 30, 2019
The United States Green Building Council has awarded Sealaska Heritage Institute’s (SHI) Walter Soboleff Building a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating, making it the second structure in Southeast Alaska to win gold status.
LEED is the most widely used green building rating system in the world, and LEED Gold is the second highest level of performance that can be achieved under the program. The ratings are awarded to honor exceptional building performance and are based on evaluations of environmental sustainability, occupant well-being and energy efficiency.
SHI early on set LEED Gold as a requirement for the design of its building, which opened in 2015, to comport with core cultural values that honor past, present and future generations, said SHI President Rosita Worl.
“Although we realized that meeting the gold standard would mean higher initial construction costs, we had no other alternative but to ensure that we complied with our core cultural values, such as Haa Shuká, which translates as honoring our ancestors and future generations,” Worl said. “Buildings have an enormous impact on the wellbeing of people and the planet, and we’re proud to say we’ve achieved one of the greenest LEED levels in the world.”
The only other building in Southeast Alaska to achieve LEED Gold is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Juneau Forestry Sciences Laboratory at Auke Lake.
Notable features in the building that contributed to the rating include regionally-sourced yellow cedar plank siding, renewable pellet heating, healthy interior materials, exposure to natural daylight and very high thermal efficiency in the construction and systems.
The design team was led by MRV Architects and included PDC Engineers for mechanical and civil design, Haight and Associates (with PDC) for electrical design, BBFM Engineers, Inc., for structural design and Alaska Energy Engineering, LLC, for energy modeling. The structure was built by Dawson Construction, with SHI’s Chief Operating Officer Lee Kadinger representing the Institute throughout design and construction phases.
MRV President Paul Voelckers notes “this project was an exceptional opportunity to showcase Native cultural materials and form, as well as best design practices. The team worked together to create a building that honors its setting and history.”
MRV Architects is a leading practitioner of sustainable design, with seven LEED-certified projects. Their design expertise is centered around cultural facilities, libraries, schools and commercial buildings. MRV’s award-winning project portfolio attests to the firm’s successes in a wide array of project types.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private nonprofit founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Its goal is to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts social scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.
CONTACT: Amy Fletcher, SHI Media and Publications Director, 907.586.9116, amy.fletcher@sealaska.com; Paul Voelckers, MRV President, paul@mrvarchitects.com, 907.586.1371.
For higher-resolution images, contact kathy.dye@sealaska.com. (Photos by Ken Graham, courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)
