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Photo courtesy of Tim Griffith

Founder's Hall, Foster School of Business, University of Washington

Seattle, WA

Business Type

New construction of classroom building

Size

85,500 square feet

Architect

LMN Architects

Owner

University of Washington

Certifications

  • LEED Gold

Founder’s Hall is designed to fit into the University of Washington's Campus Sustainability Action Plan by achieving a 79% reduction in energy consumption over the first 60 years of its life.

Founders Hall, Foster School of Business from LMN Architects on Vimeo.

The replacement for an older 1960s building includes event space and large, central commons for student activity.

Special Features


  • Operable windows, ceiling fans, and strategic glazing placement provides low energy cooling solutions for key spaces in the building
  • Highly insulated envelope greatly reduces mechanical heating needs earning significant energy savings
  • 32% energy savings beyond code, exceeding UW’s Green Building Standard to perform 15% better than code
  • Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 27 compared to an EUI of 40 for a typical code school building
  • Fossil-fuel free building
  • The new building’s operating emissions may be considered carbon neutral by choosing to avoid fossil fuels and connect to one of the cleanest electric grids in the nation, Seattle City Light
  • Cross-laminated timber decking reduces the building’s embodied carbon by 58%
  • 85% reduction in operational carbon

Media Coverage