Lewis and Clark State Office Building - PUB1316

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Lewis and Clark State Office Building consolidates several central offices. The building also incorporates numerous elements of sustainable design, which minimizes its impact on the environment and provides employees with a more productive work environment. The building’s name was chosen to honor the Lewis and Clark expedition in their spirit of discovery, diplomacy and stewardship and to commemorate the bicentennial of their journey.

Office Space and Location

The building houses the department’s Director's Office, Division of Administrative Services, and some programs of the Division of Environmental Quality along with the Missouri Department of Public Safety. Nearly 400 employees have offices in this 120,000-square-foot building. The building is the first part of the Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC) redevelopment project. Adjacent acreage will provide space for future construction of public and private facilities. It will serve as a link between the JCCC redevelopment to the west and the wooded tract to the east of the building site, which is planned for recreational opportunities.

Green Design Elements

The construction project is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council. The building has received a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification rating of platinum, which is the council’s highest rating. The building includes several elements of sustainable design.

Daylighting:

• External above-window pre-cast concrete light shelves allow penetration of sunlight during the winter months and help heat the building. They also shade floors below during the summer months to eliminate both heat gain and uncomfortable working conditions.
• The external light shelves are then combined with internal lightweight light shelves designed to extend lighting into the building. This automatically adjusts lighting levels, using ceiling mounted sensors, which eliminates higher lighting levels than necessary, especially on sunny days.

Highly efficient mechanical systems for energy efficiency:

• These systems integrate high-efficiency lighting with sensors and mechanical systems with daylighting. This cuts energy costs while improving employee work conditions and increasing productivity.
• Photovoltaic roof (solar) collectors supply 2.51% of total building energy usage.
• Ambient lighting decreases glare and associated eye strain for employees.
• Floor diffusers or registers allow employees to adjust air flow direction and fan speed into workstations.

Materials:

• A raised flooring system allows wiring, and heating and cooling, to run under offices and workstations, which will decrease the time it takes to renovate space when needed and provide a more comfortable work environment.
• Exposed ceilings created due to the raised floor system reduced the cost of materials.
• Designers selected materials that contained no volatile organic compounds in order to improve indoor air quality.
• All materials meet federal recycled material content requirements, which help to create markets for recycled products and reduce landfill use. For example, the concrete used contains 25% fly ash.
• Native Missouri wood flooring from sustainable forests (Drey Pioneer Forest and Smith Flooring) was used.
• Exterior features include landscaping material made from reused demolished building brick.

Water conservation:

• A below-ground gray water cistern using a sand and UV filtering system collects rainwater from the roof to flush toilets.
• Waterless urinals eliminate the need for additional water.
• Landscaping includes native indigenous plants, grasses, shrubs and trees that require no additional water other than normal Missouri rainfall levels.
• A system of drain tiles, bio swales and detention ponds hold rainwater to eliminate storm water runoff damage.

Recycling:

• Builders followed a construction waste management plan to reuse materials on-site and eliminate landfill disposal.
• An internal recycled paper chute and collection system eliminates the need for space for recycling bins on the office floors.

Building Cost:

• The cost for this construction was approximately $17 million.
• Energy costs for this building are expected to be almost half those of the average state office building ($0.81 per square foot for the Lewis and Clark State Office Building v. $1.50 per square foot for other state buildings).
• According to an article published in Waste News, the average cost increase for building a green office or school is between 0.5% and 6.5%. This publication also reported that a recent study showed constructing a green building saves between $50 to $65 per square foot over 20 years.