hillsboro, oregon - Allsteel

P R O J E C T P R O F I L EHILLSBORO CIVIC CENTER{ HILLSBORO, OREGON }

“Allsteel provided innovative, high-quality productsthat fulfilled the sustainable mission of Hillsboro’snew government center. Their service surpassedeveryone’s expectations.”D. Michael Jones, Associate, LRS ArchitectsChallengeWhen the City of Hillsboro, Oregon, began planning anew city hall, they started by asking residents what theywanted. “After a very thorough citizen participationprocess, they said the City should build environmentallyresponsible buildings,” says Marion Hemphill, Director ofCapital Planning and Development for the City of Hillsboro,Oregon. When planning the mixed-use development,which includes offices, retail, public plazas, and housing,Hillsboro’s City Council committed to meet the requirementsof the U.S. Green Building Council LEED ® certificationprogram. “We wanted this building to meet LEED standards,”says Hemphill, “and we felt strongly that the project neededto be environmentally responsible inside as well as outside.We didn’t want to have a ‘sick’ building,” he notes, referringto the problem of furniture, carpeting, and other interiorbuilding materials that can off-gas chemical substances,affecting indoor air quality and making people ill. TheHillsboro Civic Center ultimately achieved LEED-NC (newconstruction) Gold certification.96,000 sq. ft. of office space in mainoffice building, another 5,500 sq. ft.of retail space, and 17,000 sq. ft. ofcommon spaceConsolidation of 10 departments and200 employees that had previously beenscattered around the City of HillsboroMost City employees now work inopen offices, improving communicationand teamworkLEED-NC Gold certified building

Solution“What Allsteel provided,” says Hemphill, “were productsthat were not going to off-gas high levels of formaldehydeinto our offices.” While most office furniture is made withmaterials that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs)and formaldehyde, Allsteel used only wheatboard in theworksurfaces, which has reduced levels of VOCs andformaldehyde. According to Hemphill, “Allsteel was alsoable to utilize a special, environmentally friendly, lowformaldehydefiberglass acoustical material inside thepanel system.”In addition, Allsteel provided workstations customizedto specific staff needs. “When we designed variousworkstations, we fit them to the function instead of theorganizational hierarchy,” notes Hemphill. “For example,in plan examiners’ workstations, we were able to get36" deep worksurfaces, the size of a full set of plans. Andwe were able to give our employees the sit/stand optionso they can vary their position throughout the day.” Lowerpanel walls also ensured that light from the many windowsmade it past the first workstation and into the center ofthe building, reducing energy consumption and providingemployees access to daylight.ALL S TEEL PRODUC TSTerrace ® 3.4 frame-and-tile system,Mulberry Paper Landscape surface,Terrace Freestanding, Get Set tablesand chairs, Persona storage, #19 ® ,Sum , Tolleson Side, and Gunlocke ®Molti ® seating. Fiberglass acousticalbatting with reduced VOCs and formaldehyde,bio-based panel fabric, andwheatboard substrate in worksurfacesand Get Set tables. #19 is high inrecycled content and features a takebackprogram at the end of its useful life.

E xperienceIn addition to building workstations from recycled andrecyclable materials, Allsteel also set up a full-sizeworkstation in a lighting lab, which allowed Hemphillto find the means to reduce the electrical demand ofstandard lights, but still provide adequate illumination.“We kept experimenting with the lights and changingcolors of material to create a soft, but well-lit environmentfor people who spend most of their time on computers.”The City sent Hemphill and the Facilities Maintenance staffto the Allsteel factory for training. “One of the things wereally liked about the Terrace panel system is that it goestogether easily,” he says, “so very early on we decided ourteam could do our own add-ons, changes, and moves. Thefactory supported us in this by offering training and beingtremendously responsive as our folks got up to speed.”

GAINSAccording to D. Michael Jones, Associate at LRSArchitects, “The product choices presented by Allsteelmade integrating systems furniture into the built environmenteasy. The materials and finishes blend beautifully with thearchitecture throughout a variety of spaces.” Allsteel alsoassisted with the LEED certification process. “The City ofHillsboro’s desire to create an environment that met allrequirements of LEED for indoor air quality and recycledand rapidly renewable materials was highly dependenton participation by Allsteel,” Jones adds. “I found theirpeople to be extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Theyeven helped procure information and draft summaries forthe LEED certification submission.”To help educate staff and visitors, the City has put togethera demonstration workstation. “We use this workstation totalk about how environmentally sensitive this building is,”Hemphill notes. “People are impressed by the fact thatthe bio-based panel fabric is made of non-food grade corn,a rapidly renewable resource that is biodegradable afteruse. One of the tiles on the panel wall is made of MulberryPaper, which comes from the castings of silkworms.It makes a huge impact.”Office furniture made frominnovative, recycled, and recyclablematerials, such as environmentallyfriendly panel acoustical batting, biobasedpanel fabric, and wheatboardworksurface substrateWorkstations customized tospecific functional needs ratherthan hierarchical standardsLower panel heights so naturallight reaches all the way tointerior workstationsTask lighting that reduces energyconsumption while still providingadequate and appropriate illuminationfor computer work and other tasksA #19 chair donated for the time capsulethat was buried in the plaza square aspart of the grand-opening celebration

HILLSBORO CIVIC CENTER{ HILLSBORO, OREGON }©David BrunnThe City’s commitment to Allsteel products began sixyears ago. “I put together an RFP,” Hemphill explains,“because I’d never bought office furniture before and I’mvery analytical. I included matrices that went on foreverand ranked all these products on everything from recycledcontent to ease of construction and price. We had 12manufacturers bid, and Allsteel won, hands down, froma qualitative and quantitative perspective. So we saidwe’d buy their product for the next five years and nowwe’re ready to renew that contract.”“Allsteel made a commitment that if wewere going to go full-out to make thisan environmentally sensitive building,then they were going to go full-out tosupport our efforts.”Marion Hemphill, Director of Capital Planning and Development, City of Hillsboro, OregonFor more information about Allsteel solutions, pleasevisit allsteeloffice.com.Allsteel Inc.Muscatine, Iowa 52761-5257allsteeloffice.comForm # A7576 (04/07)Printed in USA©2007 Allsteel Inc.Allsteel, #19 and Terraceare registered trademarksand Designed to work. Builtto last., Get Set, Landscape,Persona and Sum are trademarks.Gunlocke is a registeredtrademark. Molti is a registeredtrademark of Gunlocke. LEEDis a registered trademark of theU.S. Green Building Council.