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A Quarter Century of Leed

A revolutionary green building driver at the time it debuted in 1998, the LEED Rating System remains a force for good in the design of sustainable buildings and is widely credited for helping raise A/E/C industry baseline standards.
By Brad Fullmer

It's been more than three decades—1993, to be exact—since the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was co-founded by S. Richard (Rick) Fedrizzi, David Gottfried, and Michael Italiano, which ultimately spawned the revolutionary Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in 1998, a points-based rating system that offered legitimate third-party verification of green buildings.

The goal of the fledgling association was simple: Increase overall sustainability of new construction projects including improved energy efficiency and creating a better, healthier environment for building occupants—all with the goal of reducing construction's carbon footprint.

At the time, it was considered a bold initiative, with significant potential real-world benefits to the A/E/C industry. It took several years for the LEED initiative to get off the ground, but by the turn of the 21st Century, the phenomenon started taking root in the design community. 

"When LEED began in the late 90s/early 2000s, it was an incredible ambition to transform the building industry and to bring sustainability into the conversation," said Whitney Ward, Principal with Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture and one of the firm's leading sustainable design experts. "[USGBC] had some big hurdles to overcome, including a general lack of knowledge about or mistrust of global warming and climate change." 

Ward said the U.S. Green Building Council and the LEED rating system had an immediate and profound effect on:
—Creating more transparency in material manufacturing and getting manufacturers to care more about developing more sustainable/greener materials (carpet, flooring, paint, textiles, etc.) 
—Highlighting the true value of sustainable buildings through "incredible marketing efforts" and spurring owner demand.
—Becoming the "go-to" third party certification agency for sustainable buildings. 

"The environmental consciousness of designers, builders, and owners [...] has really evolved to (where we say) 'we're going to do the best we can'," said Ward. 
"LEED has been an incredible tool in reshaping the industry and helping manufacturers, contractors, architects, and other industry partners understand the impact that their decisions have on the environment and on energy use," said Peter McBride, Principal with Salt Lake-based Architectural Nexus. "The conversation 20-30 years ago used to be 'how much does this cost?' or 'what is the percent increase cost in doing (LEED) vs. the baseline?' As each version of LEED established itself as an industry standard, the answer has been that LEED Certified or LEED Silver costs no more—or slightly more—than a baseline design. With each subsequent version release, LEED continues to push the boundary—sustainable design is now the baseline."

"LEED has increased awareness for sustainability and energy conservation in buildings," added Chris Cox, Building Performance Program Manager for the State of Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM). "As far as the biggest pro, LEED brought the integrated design process to the forefront—user groups, owners, maintenance teams, architects, engineers, and builders work together in achieving the best outcomes."

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The Noelle E. Cockett Life Sciences Building at Utah State University in Logan  was completed in 2018 and achieved LEED Gold certification. (photo courtesy VCBO Architecture) 

Evolution of LEED and Sustainability in Utah 

It took the USGBC several years to develop and implement its LEED rating system, which focuses on seven main areas: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design Process, Regional Priority. Buildings are awarded "points" based on meeting certain environmental-based criteria. Four levels of certification are offered, depending on how many points are obtained. Initially, 40 points were offered via LEED v1, and 69 points for v2. When LEED v3 was released in 2007 (subsequently updated in 2009), designers could chase 110 points, with 40-49 being Certified and 80 and over being Platinum. 


USGBC included 13 pilot projects nationally in the first wave of buildings to obtain LEED Certified status in March 2000, including a very prominent one in Utah—the Utah Olympic Speed Skating Oval in Kearns, completed in February 2001. Salt Lake-based GSBS Architects was the lead design firm, and it was constructed by Sandy-based Layton Construction, laying the foundation for the green building movement locally. 


While the LEED rating system was an exciting new initiative for designers, hitting the requisite amount of points the first time around offered a significant learning curve.


"The most notable feature of the process was the innovation and collaboration required to move forward," said Garth Shaw, Principal and Director of Sustainability for GSBS, about getting that unique building LEED Certified, once David Brems, a Founding Principal, established it as one of the 13 USGBC pilot projects. 


Shaw often cites low-VOC paint as an example of that initial learning curve, explaining that 25 years ago even major paint manufacturers weren't cognizant of the VOC level in their product, which led to a series of calls to get the right data. 


"Today, low-VOC products are abundant, their negative health impact widely known," said Shaw. "Most interior finish products post their VOC content right on the packaging. In 1998-98, (manufacturers) did not have information readily available about the VOC content of their products."


Another collaborative effort was understanding the reflectivity of standard gray concrete as a way to reduce the heat island effect, which led to working with a transportation engineer who was researching concrete reflectivity for highway barriers. 


"It illustrated the Utah Olympic Organizing Committee's commitment to sustainability, and the spirit of innovation our state likes to project," Shaw added. 

Since the turn of the century, hundreds of projects in Utah have achieved some level of certification (specific numbers were hard to confirm; a search of Utah in USGBC website lists 696 total projects), including LEED for New Construction (NC), LEED for Building Design and Construction (BD+C), LEED for Interior Design and Construction (ID+C), LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) and LEED for Neighborhood Development (ND). Some of these categories are further broken down by market segment.


The USGBC has done a commendable job evolving its rating system over the years, with updates/improvements made every few years. LEED 2.0 quickly surpassed the original version in 2000, LEED 3.0 (called v2009) was released in 2009, LEED 4.0 followed 2013, and LEED 4.1 hit the streets in 2019. LEED 5.0 is nearing completion and in the midst of getting launched, with a public comment period running from April 3-May 20, 2024, on the Beta version, and a launch date of early 2025 targeted. 


According to Charlie Woodruff, Mountain Region Director for the USGBC, LEED 5.0 signifies how "the rating system evolves with the market," he said. "It's hard to please everybody as all markets are different, but this rating system has significant improvements." 


Woodruff mentioned how USGBC "is making it more accessible for owners to do O&M (operations and maintenance) certification based on performance data on things like energy, water, transportation, waste, the human experience. Cushman Wakefield has done a handful of office certifications and it's a new trend the last couple of years." 


The announcement of yet another version of LEED is strategic, said Garth Shaw, Principal and Sustainability Director for GSBS Architects, and a LEED BD+C AP (accredited professional)—a way for USGBC to maintain relevance and keep their place atop the burgeoning list of third-party sustainable ratings groups. 

"The USGBC's goal is market transformation," said Shaw. "That goal dictates that every new version pushes the industry to create ever-more sustainable buildings. In version 4, the USGBC rebalanced credit points to emphasize community connection, material selection, and energy performance.  We understand that version 5 will maintain a focus on these elements of sustainability and add a special focus on reducing embodied carbon and operational carbon emissions."


And while the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to LEED, it isn't the perfect system.


"It is applied as if it were a minimum-standard based code; as such, building teams and owners underestimate its value, but also the rigorous process required to be successful," said Shaw. "This has led to failures and, in many cases, a perception that creating a certified LEED project is about spending money for a plaque on the wall."


Utah has fared pretty well on a national level in getting projects LEED certified, although nowhere near what states with sizeable metro areas like California (L.A., San Francisco) and Washington (Seattle) are doing on a square foot basis per capita. According to the USGBC, Utah ranked No. 10 in 2015 in square footage of LEED projects per capita at 1.63 (31 total projects) and was No. 9 in 2021 at 1.48 (21 projects). The past two years, Utah has slipped to middle-of-the-pack status, a sign of some LEED fatigue from local owners. 


"LEED still has a presence in Utah, but it feels somewhat secondary to a strong sustainability market," said Shaw. "We find when our clients are interested in sustainability there isn't a specific drive to certification systems as much as environmental performance.  We are still making strides on our projects but have fewer LEED certified work in the current market."


Shaw said GSBS only designed one LEED certified project (v4.0 Gold), Lindquist Hall at Weber State University since 2019, but noted an uptick of current projects aiming for LEED, including a v4.1 Commercial Interiors certification for the firm's recent office renovation, and several notable projects for higher education and ski industry clients, which will aim for certification in the next 12-18 months upon completion. 

Daybreak Library in Herriman was completed in 2022 and achieved LEED Gold certification. Architectural Nexus’ Salt Lake Office (below) achieved LEED Platinum certification. (photos courtesy Architectural Nexus) 

Public Owners Often Drive LEED 

Public and municipal owners, particularly ones like Federal behemoth, General Services Administration (GSA), have been advocates of LEED and drivers of requiring certification for new and renovated projects. The GSA started requiring all of its federal projects to achieve basic LEED Certified status in 2003; which evolved to LEED Silver in 2007, and LEED Gold in 2010. 


Locally, Salt Lake City Corp. initially passed an executive order in 2006 stating that all new and renovated projects would aim for LEED Silver certification. The City then drafted a comprehensive Energy Management executive order in 2015 along with an Elevate Buildings program in 2016—designed with the intent to improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency. 


The State of Utah's Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) is the largest single owner in the Beehive State, with nearly 3,800 total buildings totaling $12 billion in value to look after. According to Cox, sustainability has always been a high priority for DFCM, which devised and released its own rating system—the High-Performance Building Standard (HPBS)—in 2006. 


Cox said this version was "LEED-like" with a setup that had most of the requirements for a formal certification process. Over the next two years, many institutions of higher education nationwide signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and pushed for the adoption of a formal LEED standard, which by 2009 was revised to require LEED Silver certification. 


In 2011, DFCM began implementing enclosure performance measures like the whole building air test (WBAT) and standardizing systems commissioning procedures. 


"DFCM wants predictable, reliable, efficient, and durable systems that promote healthy and productive workspaces," Cox surmised. "While covered in LEED, it was clear to us that requiring more in-depth design reviews under the premise that everything would be field tested produced better outcomes. This translates to fewer roof leaks, improved access to natural light, ventilation systems that are field tested to meet our requirements, and at the same time, reduce the overall cost of ownership." 


DFCM revised its performance metrics even further, with a revision of HPBS in 2014 that removes the LEED certification requirement from major universities, while still offering optimum sustainability.


"Knowing our big Universities would continue to pursue LEED, the revisions made [in 2014] complimented LEED and delivered LEED Silver or better performance," Cox added. "In short, LEED heavily influenced the HPBS."


Cox shared an example of 2013 LEED Certified technical college to a similar non-certified technical college completed in 2015. The 2015 project included in-depth design reviews and enhanced field testing. The "outcome-based approach" yielded nearly 50% energy cost savings and cut O&M costs by 37% vs. the 2013 project, which Cox said translates into over $10 million saved over the life of the building. 


The Salt Lake City Department of Airports is also pro-LEED, with the first phase of the overall four-phase, $5.1 billion "New SLC" airport redevelopment earning LEED Gold status in September 2021. 


Other notable LEED projects in Utah include: 

—175,000 SF Daybreak Corporate Center in South Jordan, the first LEED Platinum certified project in 2010.

—Alta Stone at the Gateway Apartments, the first LEED Platinum Multi-Family project. 

—Architectural Nexus' Salt Lake Office, certified LEED Platinum in 2011. 


Nexus' Salt Lake City 30,000 SF office is a fantastic adaptive reuse of a 1950s-built structure that earned LEED NC v3 (2009) Platinum by earning 80 points—illustrating the firm's initiative to "walk the walk" by investing in the health and well-being of its 90+ employees. 


McBride said the firm's Sacramento office is LEED NC v4 Platinum and Living Certified by the International Living Foundation, while the Salt Lake office is LEED Platinum v3 and also pursuing Petal Certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), a far more rigorous level of sustainability compared to LEED, and one of several "green building" rating systems that have popped up in the past 20 years. 



"We see many of our government and civic clients continue to pursue LEED because it is mandated or required by regulation or legislation," McBride said. "Many private owners are either doing it because it is part of their business values or if they are marketing to a demographic that values sustainable design. Even then, many clients are electing to establish their own set of sustainable criteria (rather than using LEED or another third-party rating system) and marketing independent and specific features and initiatives that their project highlights."

The Utah Olympic Speed Skating Oval is Utah’s first LEED Certified building and one of 13 original projects from USGBC’s LEED Pilot program in 2001. (top photo courtesy GSBS Architects; bottom photo by Leo Geis, courtesy VBFA) 

LEED Opinions Vary Among Private Developers

Opinions of LEED among private owners and developers vary widely, often based on a company's philosophy of developing and holding long-term vs. flipping properties within five years. 


"In all honesty, I have a love/hate relationship with LEED," said Daniel Thomas, Regional Partner for St. John Properties (SJP) in Pleasant Grove, an active developer in Utah since 2013 with 1.2 million SF in 30 buildings on four developments. The company is a Top 5 LEED developer in the nation per USGBC, with six million SF of space in just over 100 LEED certified projects, including Valley Grove III in Pleasant Grove as of April 2024. 


Thomas believes LEED has good intentions and offers a good structure for developers, but the process itself has become cumbersome and taxing, particularly the past five years. 


"There is immense value in the true environmental and sustainable intent of LEED," he said, "but as newer versions have come out the benefits are being outpaced by the bureaucracy and costs."


At the ribbon cutting April 19 of the Holcim/Elevate Commercial Roofing Systems & Lining manufacturing and distribution center, a LEED Certified plaque was presented to the owner, Idaho Falls-based Riverbend Management. 


"It makes the property more valuable," said Devin Belnap, Vice President of Real Estate Development for Riverbend. "We are long-term owners; we won't sell this building." 


Belnap said Riverbend projects—which includes the Ancestry.com and Exactware office buildings in Lehi—have some type of sustainability guideline. 

"Most of our projects have long-term sustainable design characteristics, and some of them are LEED certified," he said. "If I'm buying a building and I know it's LEED certified, I know I'm getting a good product."


Brad Holmes, President of Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate, said his company is committed to developing sustainable projects, but LEED doesn't necessarily fit their overall vision, despite being a notable program.


"We have a desire to build sustainable projects," said Holmes, citing LHM's purchase of Daybreak in April 2021, along with its development of a Downtown Daybreak area that includes the new Salt Lake Bees Ballpark for Utah's Triple-A baseball team. "We look at not just a (specific) building, but rather how walkable a community is [...] or if it is located near transit [...] or how can we recycle water. On all our building projects we'll build to a sustainable metric, but probably not LEED."


The S.J. Quinney College of Law Building at the University of Utah was completed in 2015; it earned LEED Platinum certification, a level most higher education projects don’t pursue. (photos courtesy VCBO Architecture) 

LEED, WELL, LBC: What Makes Sense for Owners Today? 

The USGBC will forever get credit for the being the first organization to create a comprehensive independent rating system for sustainable buildings, which in turn has spawned several other notable groups looking to make their mark on helping reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment. Some of these include the International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge and Petal Certification, the WELL rating system that focuses directly on occupant health and wellness, the Energy Star system promoted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Green Globes, a program run by the Green Building Institute. So many choices can leave owners (and designers) wondering what's best for their project. 


"For firms creating highly sustainable designs, it is a bit of a post-certification world," said Shaw. "Clients and architects have come to understand that a deeply sustainable project does not have to have a label. In fact, labels can divert meaningful alignment of sustainable features with client values by dictating what the team focuses on.”


"That said," Shaw continued, "the WELL rating system offers a fresh set of criteria focusing directly on occupant wellness. While WELL certification criteria veer widely from traditional building design, teams that address these criteria enhance sustainability in ways that LEED-only projects do not."


Shaw said The Living Building Challenge also offers a "framework for clients that want to go beyond LEED and drastically reduce a project's environmental footprint. These rating systems have a meaningful place in today's design and construction world."


Ward remains partial to LEED in many ways and said it still reigns supreme for its brand recognition. 


"The LEED rating system, what it asks you to do, is more par for the course than it's ever been," said Ward. "It's still the best marketing strategy we have for conveying sustainable design. If you say a project is a 'high-performance building', people don't know what that means outside the [A/E/C] industry. If you say it's a LEED Certified building, people know what it means, and that you have done something above and beyond the standard to get that plaque."


Intermountain Healthcare has a baseline design standard of LEED Silver on its projects, including Alta View Hospital in Sandy (top), while Huntsman Cancer Institute Phase IV also earned LEED Silver. (courtesy Architectural Nexus) 

Innovative Education

By Brad Fullmer • 01 Apr, 2024
It's not every day that an architect designs a project around a native flower, then again, the new Career and Technical Education (CTE) High School in St. George is far from your standard K-12 school. "Essentially, we patterned the floor plan around the Bear Claw Poppy," said Bryan Dyer, Director of Facilities for Washington County School District (WCSD), and one of the primary designers of CTE from 2018-20 while at St. George-based NWL Architects prior to joining the District. "The courtyard is the center of the poppy; the rooms represent flower petals. I think it turned out nice—the courtyard is heavily used and is a unique part of the project. The school board tasked us to do something unique to the District—it's the only building of its kind in the state where students have educational and vocational all in one." "It was kind of a philosophical departure for the District—they recognized the need to pick up the students that fall into a category of not being traditional students—they wanted something different and arrived at the need for a career and technical emphasis," added Terrance White, Principal-in-Charge for NWL. As the first standalone career and technical education facility in Utah, the revolutionary $29.6 million, 126,000 SF school offers eight pathways for the nearly 500 students enrolled at the school (capacity is 800), including: business, construction, culinary arts, engineering, education, graphic design, health science, and information technology. The two-level design prioritizes functionality, creating a dynamic environment where students can explore their chosen fields with purpose and passion. WCSD officials and architects from NWL were inspired by similar CTE schools they toured in Houston and Las Vegas and were able to successfully translate the vision inspired by those schools into a tangible space that fosters true collaboration between students and sets a new standard for a career-focused educational platform. "We toured a school in Houston [...] and recognized the architecture of that building took on more of a junior college feel—it felt like it was something more than a high school but not quite a university," said White. "It's great to see a school district recognize where they can take better care of their students."

Q&A w Bryan Turner

By Brad Fullmer • 01 Apr, 2024
UC+D: How was it working with Gary Payne for so many years? Turner: His impact on the Davis School District will last many years due to the buildings that were constructed during his time. Rather than being satisfied with the status quo, we worked to develop school buildings that would accommodate innovate teaching styles and would be safe, economical, and exciting places where children would want to be. UC+D : It's been 10 years since Odyssey Elementary was completed. What is the analysis of how it has performed? Turner: It is not very hard to create a truly Net-Zero building. We can produce enough electricity to offset the electricity used, plus the natural gas usage—however, the power company will not give us credit for electricity generated above what we use. An energy model was used to estimate the Energy Use Index (EUI) of Odyssey Elementary. It predicted that our EUI would be 22. The first year it was actually 17. An ideal Net-Zero building would not have any natural gas usage. We elected to install a gas boiler in the building to help control the "demand" charges that would occur on cold days when all the heat pumps would start up in the building. For 2023, the PV array produced 213,066 kWh; we used 188,088 kWh in electricity. We used 421 decatherms of gas, giving us a cost of $0.33/sf for energy usage, compared to an average building in the district (about $1.25/sf). UC+D: What is the greatest success with Odyssey? What would you do differently? Turner: Odyssey Elementary, with all its energy-efficient features, provides an excellent educational experience that benefits both teachers and students. The building accommodates different learning styles, collaboration, and individual exploration. First and foremost, the building is a school, albeit one that is very maintainable. There is not anything I would do differently. Since this was the first of a series of prototypes, a lot of thought from a lot of people was put into it.

Literacy Level-up

By Talia Wolfe • 01 Apr, 2024
Before the Logan Library ribbon-cutting ceremony began, two children eagerly ran past the staff toward the children's section. Inside the children's area, two girls, with their arms linked, skipped past the shelves of books while a little boy raced along the cobblestone path that weaves through the bookshelves. A young girl in the reading nook called her mom over to see, and a little girl with pigtails used the miniature-sized door into the children's section to enter the playhouse. The ribbon-cutting began in the lobby and adjacent community room, which were filled with patrons of all ages despite the stormy weather outside. As they entered, a string quartet greeted people with lovely music, and cameras lined the walls for press coverage; even the local firefighters came to show their support. Before the library's opening, Mayor Holly Daines shared how the facility was designed and built with modern and historical intentions. The mayor and various library donors spoke excitedly about the new library before the giant scissors were used to cut the ribbon. Immediately after, patrons with arms full of books were perusing the bookshelves. Children read in the aisle, too excited to move to a table, while parents formed a line waiting to check out books for the family. Quiet laughter emanated from the "teen and tween" section, and Utah State University and the Logan Latter-day Saint Temple are visible from the third-floor windows. From 1985 to 2021, the previous library was in an old and converted Sears building. For the last 20 years, Logan City leaders have discussed providing residents with a modern library. "The library was old and dark, and the systems were failing. It never was a purpose-built library," said Daines.

Landmark Lehi Hospital

By LADD MARSHALL • 01 Apr, 2024
Since its inception more than a century ago in 1922, Primary Children's Hospital has set a standard for pediatric healthcare excellence by continuing to produce world-class facilities throughout the Beehive State. The latest cutting-edge offering is the Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital, Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Campus in Lehi (PCH Lehi), a project of significant importance to this burgeoning city, one that ranks among Utah's fastest-growing communities. Aided by a $50 million gift from the Miller Family Foundation, this landmark five-story, 486,000 SF, 66-bed project features the latest and greatest in medical technology in a building that is fun, playful, and energetic, with colorful design elements playing a vital aesthetic role throughout. The value of a project on this level is beyond measure, said Blake Court, Vice President of Salt Lake-based Jacobsen Construction. "Primary Children's really has a special place in my heart—they are a very special entity," said Court, a veteran healthcare professional with nearly 35 years of overall experience, including 19 years at Jacobsen along with stints at the State of Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. "It has been embraced by the community. Lehi and the surrounding areas are growing so fast. It's just amazing to see what's going on there." "It's a once-in-a-lifetime project," said Jeff Pinegar, Principal with Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture, who partnered with Page Southerland Page of Houston on an exhaustive 19-month detailed planning and design process to create a comprehensive hospital and clinic in one congruous structure. "To see these kids have the spirit they have [...] it's a life-changing project. I'm so glad I had the chance to be part of it. I love the challenge of healthcare." As with most construction projects that originated during the pandemic, PCH Lehi kicked off in August 2020, which proved immensely challenging from the onset in regard to worker health and volatility of material cost and availability. "Everyone knows the story—people got sick, it spread to co-workers, and we would lose entire crews [of subcontractors]," said Court. "We would constantly be down manpower. And then [material] lead times just skyrocketed. Materials that we normally get off the shelf went to a year-and-a-half overnight because manufacturing plants were shutting down. Add in price escalations and it was just a trifecta."

Taking Another Shot

By Brad Fullmer • 01 Apr, 2024
At an age when most folks are kicking off their post-retirement "golden years", 66-year-old Cal Wadsworth is attacking this chapter of his life with the zest of a man reborn, having fired back up his general contractor firm in 2020 with a vision of eventually turning it over to the next generation. It speaks to his resolve as a businessman and construction lifer, as a parent who wants to do right by his children, but even more as a person who has rallied/is rallying back from a challenging period personally, which coincided with the great recession and led to him shuttering Cal Wadsworth Construction in 2010. "I'm realizing more with time that I'm not in control as much I thought," said Wadsworth. "There is the realization that you've got to give up control. You can't base all your happiness on the money that comes from this business. Learning to live with disappointments is something I'm getting better at. Learning to live with them and not let them ruin my confidence, or my ambition. I live by the 'Serenity Prayer'."

Robust Growth Fuels Lehi City's Development

By Brad Fullmer • 01 Mar, 2024
Adobe’s 680,000 SF Lehi Campus is an iconic project in Lehi that was completed in two phases, with the first phase opening at the beginning of 2013 and signaling a new era of development along the Silicon Slopes corridor. (photo by Dana Sohm) Inset: Aerial view showing an illustration of Texas Instruments’ new 300 mm semiconductor wafer manufacturing plant—referred to as “LFAB2”—which broke ground last November and marks the single largest investment (over $11 billion) in state history. (photo courtesy Texas Instruments)

Forging Ahead

By Brad Fullmer • 01 Mar, 2024
Work continues to grind forward on the mammoth new Salt Lake City Water Reclamation Facility (WRF)—a critical $850 million project being built by a joint venture of the Salt Lake regional offices of Sundt Construction and PCL Construction that will replace the current facility in North Salt Lake once it's turned over to SLC's Department of Utilities (SLCDPU) in July 2026. As it stands, this is the second-largest project in City history, trailing only the recent $2 billion-plus Salt Lake International Airport Redevelopment (Phases 3-4 ongoing), and one of the most technically challenging projects in the state. "We are up for the challenge every day—the magnitude of this thing is unreal," said Manny Diaz, Project Manager for Salt Lake-based Sundt, as he drove around the massive 30-acre site in late-January, a worksite teeming with 300 current employees (it will peak at 400 workers this summer) and myriad complicated structures being built simultaneously. Diaz is a long-time veteran of the water reclamation facility industry—this project marks plant No. 26 in his own personal history—and he was brought in a year ago by Sundt because of his expertise. When he arrived in Salt Lake at the beginning of last year, it was right smack dab in the middle of what proved to be a record-breaking year for snowfall. "It was quite a welcome to Utah!" Diaz chuckled. "We keep very close tabs on the weather." And while crews haven't been subjected to the same inclement weather this winter, site conditions are still generally wet and muddy, and the difficulties associated with building the various structures are constant. Crews are nearing the halfway mark, so certainly it's a milestone worth acknowledging, even though a mountain of construction is still left to climb. "It's such a huge accomplishment to be this far," said Jason Brown, Deputy Director of Public Utilities for SLC. "We've faced a lot of challenges, Covid, material shortages [...] it's amazing to be part of a team that works so well together. We still have a long way to go, but we'll get there. We've made a lot of progress and should be proud, but it's hard to celebrate success with so much work still ahead." Diaz, along with PCL Project Manager Shayne Waldron, said crews recently achieved a major milestone: one million hours worked, a notable accomplishment. “Achieving the ‘one million hours worked’ milestone is a testament to the coordination and collaboration required of a project this size," said Brown, adding that the new WRF project benefits from regular and ongoing staff collaboration, under the watch of Sundt/PCL, designers AECOM and Jacobs, and SLCDPU leadership. “This [milestone] is the culmination of many different efforts,” added Mauricio Ramos, District Manager for PCL’s Civil Infrastructure Division. “From local engineers to pipe layers, journeymen, construction trade workers, foremen, and general laborers, every team member has been instrumental in reaching this benchmark. The collaboration between PCL and Sundt has been a testament to our shared commitment to excellence and innovation.” "Our crews are working together seamlessly to ensure that the final product meets the goals and needs of the community," said Sam Reidy, Senior VP and District Manager for Sundt. "Celebrating this milestone recognizes the hard work and commitment each member of the project team has made to this project and the Sundt/PCL partnership." Diaz and Waldron said soil conditions challenged the team right out of the gate and took significant time to stabilize the site. "At the very beginning, the project was designed to be built on top of where the sludge beds were at, but it turns out the sludge beds were on shaky ground," said Diaz. "This whole area is young in age, so it's all soft clays and sands," added Waldron. "Soft clays are compressible, so the big issue is settling. It would have [cost] $80 million in piles to shore it up, and then in between buildings you have all the pipe and utility duct banks, so they would almost need to be built on piles." Waldron said the idea came up to pre-load the whole site, where crews built a flat pad, installed wick drains, then pre-loaded 30 ft. of dirt, with drains going down 125 feet and providing a way for water to be pushed out of the clay. "We had over seven feet of settlement," said Waldron. Crews also set up sophisticated monitoring equipment "to see where ground was settling and what layers were compressing the most. It was really scientific—a lot more than I've seen before." Diaz said it took six months to haul in the fill dirt where it remained in place for eight months, then took another six months to excavate out—close to one million yards of total material. It was an exhaustive process, with an average of 400 trucks per day and close to 500 trucks hauling 18,000 tons on the best day. Having a cohesive, highly collaborative team of designers and construction experts has been a boon to the project schedule. Once completed, Salt Lake City’s new WRF will serve over 200,000 residents as well as those who commute downtown to work or visit Utah's capital. It will replace the City’s current—and only—wastewater treatment facility, which is over 55 years old and near the end of its service life. Maintaining reliable operations at the existing facility while constructing the new WRF nearby has been critical for the project’s success. Since breaking ground in 2019, the project team has completed approximately 65% of structural concrete work as well as soil mitigation, deep foundation work, and the installation of underground utilities. In late January crews began excavating dual 63-in. diameter pipelines, along with a 78-in. effluent pipe that is being hauled one giant piece at a time from Canada, a new type of corrugated HDPE with welded joints that should provide greater durability. All in all, crews will ultimately pour 93,000 CY of concrete and install 22 million pounds of reinforcing steel, along with 89,000 LF of underground pipe ranging in diameter from 1.5-in. to 78-in. "The camaraderie among the team members allows for a very cohesive team," said Diaz. "The only way you can tell who works for who is by the color of the truck. We have a 'one project' mentality. The complexity of the job and being trusted to lead this effort [...] have been [important] for me. It's been a great job so far." Diaz, who said his first wastewater treatment plant was in North Miami Beach in the late 80s right after he graduated from college, hopes to remain in Utah once this job is completed and turned over to the client by mid-2026. “I plan on staying here and continue to work on treatment plants in Utah,” he said. “There’s a lot of work here. We have vast experience, and we have a lot of people who want to be in Utah—it’s a great place to live. Let’s do it!”

Let the Good Times Roll

By Brad Fullmer • 01 Mar, 2024
It's been more than 45 years (1978) since The Cars released their debut album highlighted by the wildly popular song Good Times Roll, but if there was ever a tune to sum up the general sentiment of local A/E/C professionals regarding Utah's 2024 Economic Outlook, Good Times Roll would be up there. "Our members are expecting another good year," said Joey Gilbert, President/CEO of the 650-member Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Utah. "For our contractors in both the building and highway markets, the outlook is good. Many still have decent backlogs to keep them busy through 2024 and in some cases, even 2025. The public sector is strong, and on the private side, owners are still investing in some big projects." Robert Spendlove, Chief Economist for Salt Lake-based Zions Bank, reported at the AGC's Economic Outlook meeting last November that commercial construction was up 1.6%, while Utah as a whole reported 2.5% growth overall, and believes both will continue to fare well in 2024. "Utah also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S. [2.5%]; when it gets too low, you get real struggles of labor shortages," he said. "It prevents companies from growing and is one of those defining economic characteristics of this past cycle. If we get above 4-5% we get nervous that it's a sign of a recessionary environment." Spendlove said tailwinds include strong consumer spending, a strong labor market, and an overall robust economic Intermountain West region, while headwinds could include a lack of new workers, government shutdowns, energy prices, and international uncertainty. Another bonus is that Utah remains one of the strongest states economically, regardless of what is happening nationally. "I would say uncomfortably optimistic," countered Dejan Eskic, Senior Research Fellow for the Kem Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, citing a number of factors potentially slowing down the design and construction industry such as housing, labor, and material price fluctuations—basically the same post-Covid headwinds Utah-based firms have been battling the past couple of years. "On paper, we should have a decent economic year in Utah. Because it's an election year, it brings more optimism generally. Stock performance does better in an election year, jobs do better. You have to stick to those basics. Eskic has been with the Gardner Institute for eight years, including the past five in his current role, explained that some of the uncomfortableness facing the local economy stems from having virtually no labor pool in certain segments, including construction—which continues to face a dearth of skilled craftsmen in virtually all subcontractor trades. "We still have red flags," he said, noting concerns with still-high housing costs. "Maybe it's too early to call if we've cracked inflation. 2023 ended up way better than anybody expected—it was supposed to be a recession year, but the recession never came, and the labor market exceeded expectations. "I'm bullish on Utah," he added. "I look at the numbers and how we're going, and we're in a very strong growth pattern with the economy. Things will continue to expand." Indeed, despite nasty rising interest rates that put the brakes on some speculative development projects, Utah-based owners continued to plow ahead on projects, and by-and-large most market segments continued to see a healthy amount of activity as firms set about tackling healthy project backlogs.

Building Blocks

By Reuben Wright • 01 Mar, 2024
Crews working on bridge sections of the project did the majority of heavy-lifting—as seen with these giant cranes lifting heavy girders—during the wee hours of the night, part of UDOT’s expectations of keeping traffic moving by limiting road closures. (night photos by Kjell Gerber, BuildWitt)

Heart of a New City

By Brad Fullmer • 01 Mar, 2024
It's been a long time coming for elected officials and the citizens of Millcreek City, but their beloved $45 million, nearly 80,000 SF City Hall is finally complete, ending a lengthy five-year process that tested all parties involved but produced an awe-inspiring six-story building that will serve as the public heart of this rising community southeast of downtown Salt Lake. "It's awesome!" gushed Jeff Silvestrini, in reference to his view as he peered out across the Salt Lake Valley from his fourth-floor corner office, with captivating views via a complex glass curtain wall system highlighted with an intricate, highly functional screen shade. As the only mayor Millcreek City has known during its brief seven-year existence (it was incorporated Dec. 28, 2016), Silvestrini was recently re-elected for another four-year term (he ran unopposed) and has been a driving force behind this new project. "I could see this [view] was going to be amazing when I climbed up the crane when the concrete structure was going up. Standing on the exposed sixth floor before the curtain wall went up, I was humbled at this monumental undertaking for a new city. What we do as a city government is serve the people. We can serve the people much better in a facility like this." Unique Municipal Design Fosters Public Engagement with a "Downtown" Feel Millcreek City Hall builds upon the momentum created by the adjacent Millcreek Common to the east (opened in December 2022) to create an actual "Downtown" or "City Center" space at the bustling area of 3300 South between 1300 East and Highland Drive, which includes a host of exciting new nearby multi-family and mixed-use developments under construction. The project leverages a public-private partnership (PPP) with a local developer on an adjacent shared parking garage, along with the much-needed residential housing. Silvestrini said City leaders "did not contemplate putting City Hall here" initially, but public feedback made it clear residents wanted a downtown area to call their own. Millcreek Common—replete with an ice ribbon, splash pad, and room for food trucks—was planned as a public plaza space and has been wildly popular since its completion in late 2022. Residents also wanted City Hall to have real spaces for the public, not just a strictly-government facility, which provided exciting design opportunities for Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects, which initially worked with City officials in 2017-18 on a City Center Master Plan, which came about via a grant through the Wasatch Front Regional Council, according to Ryan Wallace, Principal-in-Charge for MHTN. "It's located roughly in the geographic center of the community and easily accessed by vehicle, transit, and active transportation—it's something that can unite the community," said Wallace. "The client has created four projects in one," aided by a vertical building mixed-use approach on the narrow footprint, a key to allowing optimum future adjacent development. "We realized early on that there was an opportunity to build a true civic center," added Silvestrini. "The more we thought about it, the more it made sense." The commitment to having a true community building is evident on the first floor, which includes a coffee house, a restaurant, and a flex public market with rotating businesses. "[City leaders] wanted an activating ground floor use that would support their idea of a downtown," said Wallace. "They didn't want City Hall to only be active 8-to-5 and then a dead zone at night." City officials and MHTN staff also drew inspiration on a tour of the new City Hall in Lenexa, Kansas, which includes adjacent common space and a ground floor retail/public market. "Everyone seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength," said Peggy McDonough, MHTN President who served as Project Executive on Millcreek City Hall. "We all felt like this was a completely unique project, unlike any other city hall that we've been a part of, and the second that has a market level. It's being looked at as an example of good development." While level 1 is sure to be a hit with Millcreek residents and visitors over time, levels 2 through 5 showcase the versatility and functionality of the project, with all essential government functions for Millcreek City, along with Unified Police and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Unified Police is housed on level 2 and utilizes a one-level sally port/private garage under the building (another bonus of the PPP parking garage). Millcreek City is housed on levels 3-5, with the top floor—level 6—serving as prime community space highlighted by the Grandview community room and its opulent Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) roof that evokes a natural warmth throughout the space.
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