How are you building cost savings into your next fire station? Over the past five years, options to save money on running fire stations have continued to increase and become more affordable.
Just over five years ago in September 2013, Colorado Springs Fire Department’s new Fire Station 21 positioned the department as a leader in the fire service with a LEED Platinum building, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Station 21 was 11,800 square feet designed by the Fennell Group and cost just over $3 million to build.
According to Architect Jim Fennell, the focus of energy savings were generated through a mechanical heating and cooling system, “geo-exchange” or ground-source heat pump. The system circulates fluid through tubing buried deep in the ground and uses the earth as a heat sink. The result is a system that doesn’t use natural gas, but efficiently uses electricity, some of which is generated by solar panels to power small circulating pumps. Station 21 was designed to save 42 percent on energy, as well as 30 percent on water, over a standard facility.
In May 2018, Salt Lake City Fire Station No. 14 became the newest fire station in 30 years, but also the first fire station in the country to achieve Net Zero Energy (NZE) and entirely within the project’s site area. Designed by TCA Architecture Planning, Inc., in the facility’s first five months of operation, the facility was “net positive” and produced more energy than it consumed. Station 14 is a two-story, 17,000 square-foot, multi-company facility with up to 12 fire and emergency personnel. And, five months later, Salt Lake City Fire Department opened Station No. 3, its second Net Zero Energy fire Station.
Besides the recent trend of fire stations and public safety facilities moving toward healthier facilities for its personnel, “sustainability” is a term frequently mentioned in the requirements for new public buildings designed to last 75 years.
What do we mean by “sustainable?" According to the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
We spoke with Justin Myers, architect and partner with Martinez Architects, a lead designer who's worked on more than 20 emergency response facilities and related projects. Besides his expertise with 3-D digital modeling and visualization, Justin focuses on cost-benefit analysis of energy and water efficient design alternatives. At the 2019 Station Design Conference, May 14-16 in Rosemont, IL, Justin will present “Strategies for Region-Specific Sustainable Design.”
We asked Myers why sustainability is important to the fire and emergency service? “The fire service is a public entity, funded by taxpayers, so the sustainable approach is an economical approach to save the public dollars,” said Myers. He also explained a fire station or public safety facility is a long-term facility, serving the community, and it needs to be durable and a high-performing building to serve the community.
With rising construction costs, technology and security systems, how affordable is incorporating sustainability for fire departments and public safety agencies to invest in making a building sustainable?
According to Myers, there are a wide range of options when talking about sustainability.
“In our presentation, we want to talk about the whole range and about Net-Zero and Net-Zero Plus energy buildings those can cut about five percent or more …and if done right, will pay-back in 7-8 years,” Myers said. “There are options that are no-cost in design and planning, with glass and pre-planning to save money on energy with very little or no cost.”
Net Zero is generally about building costs defined over the course of a year, an annual basis. A building produces more energy on site than it consumes. It’s averaged out over a year. Over a year it might produce more and overall comes out to equal zero and Net Positive building.
Net Zero requires energy harvesting on site, such as solar panels.
“You’re not going to get pay-back very quickly with windmills or solar panels. It’s to make the building as energy conserving as possible and add a little electricity to offset it.
The options for building a sustainable fire and public safety facility range from minimal to maximum, but as a public entity, you have a commitment to future generations to be environmentally and economically conscious of the facility that will be part of their future.
Janet A. Wilmoth | Special Projects Director
Janet Wilmoth grew up in a family of firefighters in a suburb of Chicago. Wilmoth, who is owner of Wilmoth Associates, worked with Fire Chief magazine for 27 years until it closed in 2013. She currently is the project director for Firehouse, overseeing the Station Design Conference.
