Seattle Architects Break the Law in Design for Super Green Office Building

When the new headquarters for the Bullitt Foundation opens this April in Seattle, it will be among the first to meet the Living Building Challenge - "the most stringent green standard around." But getting there isn't easy, and may be illegal.

2 minute read

January 25, 2013, 10:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Designed by Miller Hull, the Bullitt Center is anticipated to become the first U.S. office building without a carbon footprint. To meet the stringent requirements of the Living Building Challenge, it will need to meet 100 percent of its energy needs with on-site renewables, 100 percent of its water needs with on-site rainwater collection, and have complete on-site waste management. "But if the architects succeed," writes Lamar Anderson, "they may run afoul of the law."

"'If you really want to build a green building today in any city in the United States, you’ll find yourself in violation of maybe two dozen regulations and laws,' Bullitt Foundation president Denis Hayes quips in a video about the building." For example, notes Anderson, "[i]n Washington, it’s illegal to take what is arguably Seattle’s most abundant renewable resource—rain—and filter it for drinking."

"The Bullitt Center will use its treated rainwater for graywater until that law changes, at which point the building’s cistern would begin pumping collected rainwater through a green roof and into an ultraviolet filtration system for disinfecting, then finally to sinks, water fountains, and about a hundred Klean Kanteens."

“Our whole purpose is to be an instrument of change, ” says Hayes, “and to use this building not just to influence developers and architects, but also the bankers who finance all of these things, the city governments that set up the codes that make living buildings illegal almost every place in the world—all of the people who are involved in making these kinds of decisions.”

Tuesday, January 22, 2013 in Architizer

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight