by Shane Henson — July 25, 2011—The César E. Chávez Memorial Building, a ten-story, 179,375-square-foot facility located in Denver, Colorado, is being transformed into an innovative, state-of-the-art, high-performing green building. Project team officials recently toured the site with project architects, tenants, and construction personnel, getting an up-close look at the project’s unique and innovative approach for replacing the building’s exterior skin.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is leading the effort. According to Susan Damour, GSA’s Rocky Mountain regional administrator, the team’s unique approach for replacing this building’s exterior skin is enabling the nine agencies and nearly 350 building tenants to remain operational during this extensive modernization.
“That’s ‘money in the bank’ when you consider that most projects of this magnitude require tenants to move into temporary space during construction,” she said.
Mark Sheldon, project manager for Tryba Architects, said that this process will permit all four façades to be completed in seven months. When complete in late 2012, the modernized building is expected to cut its building energy use by 30% and produce 5% of its energy through on-site renewable energy technologies.
Phase I of the project is 50% complete and includes replacement of the adjacent parking garage. The garage will feature one of the project’s sustainable features, a solar sculpture, capable of producing 115 kW of renewable energy, offsetting both the building’s energy consumption by 5% and reducing domestic hot water grid energy by 30%. Replacing the building’s exterior skin marks Phase II of the project. Approximately 50% of the building’s temporary barrier walls have been installed, allowing the exterior skin demolition of the north side of the building. The building was constructed in 1984.
