Construction of super energy-efficient building begins on Capitol Hill

Source:  Tom Fucoloro, CHS Capitol Hill Seattle Blog.  “Construction on the Cascadia Center at 15th and Madison is underway.  Once completed, the 75-foot building could be one of the most energy-efficient office buildings in the world, planners hope.  If all goes by schedule, construction should last 14 months, finishing up in the fall of 2012.  The building will be constructed from as many local and non-toxic building materials as  possible.  Its goal is to handle all its energy, water and waste needs on site.  In order to meet this goal, building tenants will have to work together.  Tenants will have tools to track their  energy usage, and any tenant who would like to use more energy than they are  allotted will need to trade with other tenants in a marketplace of sorts.”