Sustainable building design in Washington State

One of AMEC’s long-term customers, the Columbian Publishing Company, was constructing a new office building in Vancouver, Washington, that would set high standards in sustainable design. A key component of this building was to be an ingenious groundwater source heat pump (GSHP) system that would reduce the amount of energy required to heat and cool the building.

Reducing the energy consumption of large buildings through sustainable design is a growing priority for many of our customers in North America and Europe and one AMEC can help with.

James Feild
Project Manager

Our successful history of working with our customer in the field of engineering design, geo-technical evaluations, and environmental assessments, together with our in-house expertise in hydrogeology, meant we were selected to design and install the GSHP system. Reducing the energy consumption of large buildings through sustainable design is a growing priority for many of our customers in North America and Europe.

AMEC conducted extensive hydrogeologic studies to assure the customer that the volume of water required to effectively heat and cool the building could be maintained throughout the year. We developed system design specifications; provided oversight of the installation of two extraction wells and one injection well; and installed surface piping components of the system.

By using groundwater to heat and cool its new office building, The Columbian Publishing Company has reduced its dependence on municipal water, natural gas and electricity. This will significantly reduce the operating costs of the building throughout its life and our customer will recoup the cost of its initial investment in less than 10 years.

As a result of the GSHP and other energy saving measures, it is anticipated that The Columbian building will be certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Level building.