PAE’s new Seattle office demonstrates how material transparency, healthy systems, and Living Building principles can shape a regenerative workplace. Pursuing the Living Building Challenge (LBC) Core Imperatives and the Materials Petal, the space serves as a practical model for healthier, high‑performing environments.

At 9,000 square feet, the office at Waterfront Place is designed to frame views, support intuitive circulation, and root our team in the culture of Seattle. It continues a lineage that began in our previous Seattle home at the Bullitt Center and evolved in our Portland headquarters, the PAE Living Building. Working with The Miller Hull Partnership, we set out to create an everyday workspace that reflects our values: transparency, healthy environments, and engineering that enables a regenerative future.

Living Building Materials Petal

The Living Buildings Challenge Materials Petal guided nearly every decision. By prioritizing transparency and healthy supply chains, we broadened sustainability beyond energy and water to the substances that touch people every day.

• Energy & Carbon Reduction: Energy metering and lifecycle assessment of interiors and MEP systems create the foundation for continuous improvement.

• Responsible Water Use: A targeted 25% reduction in water use is supported by metering and leak detection strategies.

• Healthy Interior Environment: A toxin‑aware approach to product selection and system integration supports occupant wellbeing.

Material Transparency in Practice

• We engaged 300+ manufacturers to disclose ingredients, eliminate Red List chemicals, and advocate for transparency.

• The majority of fixtures carry Declare labels confirming Red List compliance and outlining end‑of‑life pathways.

• RoHS standards for HVAC and lighting control devices reduce hazardous substances like lead, mercury, and phthalates.

• Wheatland adjusted its process to eliminate hexavalent chromium in its galvanized conduit—an example of how a single project can catalyze broader change.

Leading the Shift Toward Healthier Buildings
For more than a decade, PAE has used its own offices as living laboratories—from the Bullitt Center to our Portland Living Building and now to Waterfront Place. These buildings form a consistent lineage of values‑driven engineering that informs our daily practice and helps us refine replicable, market‑ready solutions.

With accelerating expectations around decarbonization, electrification, and materials transparency across Seattle and Washington State, clients need partners who pair technical rigor with clear, actionable pathways. By locating a Living Building–aligned workspace in Seattle, we can collaborate earlier, move faster, and demonstrate what’s achievable now.

Ultimately, this office is a practical model for how material health, transparency, and engineering can deliver healthier buildings—today. We invite collaborators across the region to help move the market toward a non‑toxic, transparent, and restorative materials economy.