Green, Safe and Secure: America's 21st Century Civic Architecture

United States federal agencies are implementing innovative solutions to security and sustainability design challenges

From Maine to Seattle, from London to Tokyo, civic architecture reflects American democratic values and cultural priorities. Civic buildings make a statement about who Americans are as a people, by design, and by the planning decisions made well before construction commences.

Terrorism, limited resources and energy costs have impacted federal building design since the 1980s. National security and energy policies, often set forth by the U.S. Congress, have been influenced by global and economic events. As a result, creating safe, secure and sustainable public buildings is essential to protecting American personnel and assets at home and abroad while simultaneously meeting environmental and energy goals. These challenges present public agencies and the private sector with opportunities for partnerships and innovative solutions.

Federal agencies, such as the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of State Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), are responsible for undertaking design, construction, operations and maintenance of domestic and foreign buildings to meet their unique missions. Both agencies share a commitment to design excellence in civic architecture—through the integration of security, environmental and energy (SEE) criteria—to create a new generation of high-performance buildings and healthy workplaces for public employees.

GSA: Design Excellence
GSA's Design Excellence Program, established in 1994, recognizes public buildings and artworks that symbolize federal values and a rich legacy of American creativity. "In 1994, architects and artists commissioned by GSA Design Excellence didn't have to reconcile their efforts with heightened security, sustainability or transformative office interiors," says Les Shepherd, AIA, GSA's Chief Architect. "As government embraced new prerequisites and principles, so have our talented collaborators." 

"Design Excellence means sustainability excellence," Shepherd adds. "Repeatedly, GSA's architects have proven that sustainability and security can embody the finest contemporary American architectural thought—as noted in Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture—not prevent it. These secure, green federal civilian buildings further recommend Design Excellence's vision and process. Our commitment to hiring the nation's celebrated and most promising designers has yielded these memorable places, and our hallmark peer reviews have ensured that they meet or surpass ambitions." 

Federal buildings are iconic landmarks that symbolize American government and policies in their communities. They may also be targets for those seeking to make a statement, such as in the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City's Murrah Federal Building. Like many disasters, from earthquakes and floods to the events of 9/11, lessons learned from catastrophes shape new building codes, design standards and industry guidelines. The Oklahoma City bombing resulted in new federal security standards that evolved into the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) Security Design Criteria, applicable to GSA facilities.

Comprehensive security planning integrates design, technology, operations and risk management. A risk assessment and vulnerability analysis provide data to develop appropriate security responses. For domestic civilian buildings, balancing security and openness remains a challenge. Transparent security, invisible to the public eye, encourages openness rather than the construction of fortresses in the urban landscape.

New GSA buildings are set back from the street to mitigate damage from vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs). Greater distance means a higher degree of safety. Designing with deep setbacks in front of high-profile civic buildings presents architects and designers with opportunities to enhance urban environments (while addressing security and sustainability) through the use of trees, vegetation, street furniture, fountains and public art. In addition, choice of materials and native plantings can add to sustainability ratings, e.g., Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®), a green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Other security design elements that mitigate blast effects include windows, glazing, materials and structural systems that prevent progressive collapse. These elements can enhance sustainability and energy-efficiency in high-performance buildings.

The U.S. Land Port of Entry (LPOE), Calais, Maine (Figure 1), designed by Robert Siegel Architects, is welcoming and secure, with open public areas for both people and vehicles, along with enclosed private spaces for personnel. Site planning maximizes a tempered microclimate, and provides border security with Canada. An aluminum mesh exterior building skin forms a protective barrier for surveillance, and is transparent from the inside but opaque from the outside. The concealed, secure courtyard for employees buffers vehicle noise and pollution, and incorporates a regional motif in the form of rugged boulders from the site excavation.

Sustainable features include recycled materials, water-efficient fixtures, and drought-resistant, low-maintenance native plants that need no irrigation. LPOE Calais is 14 percent more energy-efficient than standard border stations, due to having natural light in every occupied space, aluminum windows with high-performance glazing and efficient lighting fixtures.

Figure 1: U.S. Land Port of Entry, Calais, Maine, U.S General Services Administration. Architect: Robert Siegel Architects. Enclosed secure courtyard for employees is handicap accessible, and contains boulders from the site excavation. Covered parking is at left. Photographer: Paul Warchol.

The U.S. Federal Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, designed by William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc., is open and transparent, designed to resist progressive collapse, and has a courtroom entrance visible through glass. The raised site removes the building from the flood plain, and a retaining wall provides site security, with minimal bollards around the building. The blast-resistant curtain-wall faces north to minimize heat gain.

The building achieves a 20 percent energy reduction through outside-air energy recovery, a high-performance building envelope, efficient light fixtures, 30 percent water reduction, no irrigation and daylight harvesting in public spaces. Courtrooms and offices have daylighting, Marshal's spaces have isolated outside-air systems, and the project's construction waste was recycled.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Headquarters, located in Silver Spring, Maryland, is a large campus with buildings dating from 1945. Master-planned and designed by KlingStubbins in association with RTKL, the new FDA headquarters includes perimeter and lobby security, building setbacks and vehicle barriers integrated with landscape design. A Green Zone allows free movement within the secure perimeter.

The suburban campus retains natural site elements, uses re-vegetation, native species and green roofs, minimizes building and parking footprints, and has a 96 percent recycling rate for demolition activities. Energy systems include an efficient building envelope, shading devices, mixed-mode ventilation systems with operable windows and energy recovery systems.

The new Seattle Federal Center in Seattle, Washington, designed by ZGF Architects LLP, is sited within an existing federal campus, with setbacks and a partial natural boundary, along with an innovative structural frame that reduces material consumption and resists progressive collapse. The Center will exceed applicable energy codes.

"Security and sustainability goals are ever-changing, and success in one location or for one agency may not apply elsewhere. As it has done in the past, Design Excellence will navigate these evolving standards, thanks to its committed, superb professionals," Shepherd says.

OBO: Design for Eco-Diplomacy
OBO is responsible for more than 265 U.S. diplomatic facilities located around the world. U.S. embassies represent more than diplomacy to their host nations; they are icons of American values. Because OBO's projects are Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS), they are exempt from Executive Order (EO) compliance, and the Department has not formally opted into EO reporting requirements. Similarly, embassy security requirements are mandated by Congress; OBO does not apply ISC to its facilities.

In 1983, a suicide bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, in what was the first truck bombing of a U.S. facility. The 1998 truck bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killed 300 people (including 12 Americans), injured 5,000 others and destroyed two embassies.

Commissions were established after each event to recommend how to build safer embassies quickly. After the 1998 attacks, Admiral William Crowe led a commission that recommended replacement of 187 old, unsecured embassies. The State Department worked with the Office of Management and Budget and Congress to obtain funding to implement a new security capital construction program. As of 2010, OBO has completed 72 new facilities, with 33 in design or construction.

"The Crowe Commission concluded that many U.S. diplomatic facilities were located immediately adjacent or close to public streets and were vulnerable to VBIEDs. In 1999, Congress passed the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act that codified a 100-foot setback standard for all new diplomatic facilities," says Adam E. Namm, OBO's acting director.

In 2010, OBO initiated a Design Excellence program, tailored to its unique mission, based both on the GSA model and on recommendations from Design for Diplomacy: New Embassies for the 21st Century, a report from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 21st Century Embassy Task Force. When finalized, OBO's Design Excellence program will have a major impact on diplomatic facility design and construction.

OBO's Guiding Principles of Design Excellence in Diplomatic Facilities include the following:

-Achieve a greater integration of security elements into design
-Utilize building materials that are attractive and durable
-Respect and respond to local culture and climate
-Design for sustainability and low life-cycle cost
-Integrate the Art in Embassies program

To increase sustainability, OBO established a "Green Team" comprised of technical experts to incorporate energy- and water-saving strategies, improve indoor air quality and specify environmentally sustainable materials in overseas facilities. As a result, the world's first large-tonnage, air-cooled magnetic-levitation-bearing (maglev™) chiller cools the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo; photovoltaic panels produce electricity for the U.S. Mission in Geneva; co-generation systems save energy for the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm; and rainwater harvesting is being designed for the U.S. Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Photovoltaic (PV) technology and solar panels provide clean, supplemental power. For OBO to consider PV, the project must reduce electricity costs to pay for itself in 10 years. In fact, most completed projects pay for themselves in seven years. OBO focuses on posts paying a premium for diesel generator fuel. PVs reduce the post's dependence on host-nation resources, as power is sometimes unreliable.

Electricity produced by the solar installation at the U.S. Mission in Geneva is credited to the mission by the utility company at five-and-a-half times the normal cost paid by the mission for grid-produced electricity, accelerating the payback period. In Abuja, Nigeria, low-maintenance PVs provide a supplement for the primary power source, reducing peak energy demand.

The U.S. Embassy in London replaced incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, yielding an 80 percent energy savings per lighting fixture. Many embassies have installed motion sensors and automatic computer shut-off during non-work hours for additional savings.

The New London Embassy (Figure 2), designed by KieranTimberlake (estimated completion 2017), will be welcoming and secure, provide quality workspaces, and exceed OBO's sustainability and energy goals. OBO chose a site requiring a smaller footprint and taller building to accommodate 100-foot setbacks. The site will meet all OBO security standards without the need for perimeter walls, fencing or visible bollards. Landscaping design achieves site security goals, and features a pond, park and trees. The high-performance building skin integrates blast-resistant glazing and solar shading. PVs and high-tech strategies will reduce energy use, costs and carbon footprint. Daylighting and shaded interiors will reduce power loads, optimize occupant comfort and enhance workplace quality.

Figure 2: New London Embassy, London, UK, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. Architect: KieranTimberlake. Aerial view of the New London Embassy building and site. Photo: KieranTimberlake.

The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE conserves water through rainwater catchment systems, and uses treated wastewater for landscape irrigation. Other posts use drought-resistant vegetation to reduce fertilization and irrigation.

The U.S. Mission in Geneva became the first State Department facility to be certified as a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Certification requires sustainable gardening, provision of food sources for wildlife, water sources (ponds, birdbaths), wildlife cover (thickets, rock piles), mature trees, and host plants for animals and butterflies to raise their young.

"OBO has embraced sustainable design and construction. These efforts are one aspect of OBO's new Design Excellence program. They illustrate the State Department's commitment to environmental stewardship and provide platforms for demonstrating a policy of eco-diplomacy. Our goal is to construct facilities that provide American diplomats with safe, functional facilities where they can advance foreign policy and make the world a safer, more prosperous place for all," Namm says.

Looking Ahead
Government can lead by example through practical, innovative solutions for security, sustainability and energy-efficient buildings. Use of technology, emerging materials and evolving industry best practices will enhance the workplace and provide the highest value for taxpayer dollars. When partnering with the private sector, public agencies such as GSA and OBO can produce outstanding buildings that reflect design excellence in America's civic architecture, both at home and abroad.

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