Iowa City Fire Station #4

Working as a tightly-coordinated and collaborative team, Design Engineers and Rohrbach Associates Architects have completed a pair of fire stations, No.2 and No.4, that have each qualified for Gold Certification through the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

“Building operations are nearly 40% of the solution to the global climate change challenge,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “While climate change is a global problem, innovative companies … are addressing it through local solutions.”

Fire Station #4 employed various strategies to its site, material selection, air quality, water usage and energy efficiency to meet the rigorous standards for LEED Gold.

FIRE STATION #4 ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES:

Geothermal and high efficiency HAVC system.
Over 50% energy cost savings compared to baseline building performance. Over 50% of the buildings material value is regionally harvested, extracted and manufactured.
Preserved over 75% of the project site open space.
Bio-swales and landscaping featuring native and drought resistant species; aiding in storm water management and requiring no irrigation.
Over 85% of construction waste diverted from landfills.
A reduction of heat island effect over 99% of the project site.
40% or greater of the buildings material value come from recycled content.
Day lighting for over 85% of regularly occupied space.
Access to views for over 90% of regularly occupied space.