Commercial

GLR Office Building, Missoula Montana

GLR LEED GoldGarlington, Lohn & Robinson is a full-service law firm in Missoula, Montana. With more than 30 attorneys, they are Western Montana’s largest law firm. Additionally, GLR has been recognized as a Law Firm Climate Challenge Partner by the American Bar Association. After careful consideration of their options for a new building, they determined to remain in the downtown Missoula area and secured a site across from the Missoula County Courthouse.

Their new six-story, 51,411 sf building addresses the needs of contemporary legal practice and the architectural context of the neighborhood, as well as meeting the firm's goal for demonstrating environmental stewardship. The building is designed for GLR functions on the third, fourth and fifth floors. The sixth floor contains meeting rooms, break areas and other employee amenities such as roof decks. Lease spaces are available on the second floor, as well as a portion of the first floor not used for GLR reception and waiting. The basement houses record storage, mechanical and other support spaces.

The GLR project was awarded LEED Gold certification in the LEED-NC 2.2 program in June 2011. Toward that goal, the project includes energy-efficient construction, on-site renewable energy from solar hot water and photovoltaic panels, ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling, local materials, recycled content materials, low-VOC materials and other indoor air quality measures. Examples of some of the ‘green’ features incorporated into the building include:

  • The new building is constructed on an existing urban infill site.
  • The existing asphalt parking lot and retail establishments were deconstructed and recycled.
  • The building is within ¼ mile of the Missoula Transit Center that serves all city bus routes.
  • Bike racks, locker rooms and showers and a secure interior bike room are provided to promote alternative means of commuting.
  • No new parking was added to accommodate the new building.
  • An efficient envelope, daylight harvesting, efficient lighting, ground source heat pumps, radiant heating and cooling, high performance fans and pumps are just some of the strategies that resulted in a 41.4% savings in energy cost and 61.3% less energy use compared to a code-compliant building. This savings translates into approximately $43,000 a year in operational cost savings.
  • The heating and cooling system takes advantage of the cool aquifer under the town of Missoula. Active chilled beams and radiant sails are used to heat and cool each of the individually controlled spaces throughout the building, maximizing occupant comfort. The use of this technology, using fluid as the means of heat transfer, allowed for the reduction of the supply ductwork, and in turn, fan energy necessary needed to push the air throughout the building. The use of radiant cooling technology is not a first in Montana and one of the first in the Northwestern region.
  • The chilled beam and radiant sail system allowed the design team to reduce the floor-to-floor height so that the six story building stayed under height requirements for high-rise designation, saving the project the costs for added structure, facade and systems of approximately $500,000.  Those savings were re-invested into the high performance mechanical and lighting systems.
  • Efficient plumbing fixtures save 42.3% in water use compared to the current national standards.
  • Water-efficient landscaping and efficient controls save 72.3% in irrigation water compared to the base case.
  • High quality lighting and occupant control of lighting for all offices and 90% of work spaces.
  • Solar hot water and photovoltaic panels mounted on the roof contribute to the energy savings and provide a visible demonstration of on-site renewable energy to the local community.
  • Building materials contain an overall average of 22.1% recycled content.
  • Construction waste management of demolition and new construction debris diverted 76% from the landfill and toward recycling or reuse.
Download the GLR Office Building Case Study PDF or the new Trifold Brochure PDF.

In the News - Green at Work, Missoulian, April 2011

Phone: 406-721-7077
Email: info@design-balance.com

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