The Green Building Certification Institute has awarded its highest certification – LEED Platinum – to the University of Washington Tacoma’s Russell T. Joy Building.
The Joy Building is the first in Tacoma and first at the University of Washington to achieve a Platinum rating in the “new construction/major remodel” LEED system, the university said in a release Tuesday. It is the second state-funded building to receive this recognition. The downtown Wells Fargo Plaza in July received a LEED Silver designation for existing buildings, and the Pacific Plaza project received LEED Platinum. St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw has received a Silver designation. Salishan Phase III rental units have received a Platinum designation.
Erected in 1892, the building was the last of the historic structures along Pacific Avenue to be repurposed for the UWT campus. It opened last spring offering classroom space and first-floor retail storefronts.
The architect of the renovation was THA Architecture, and the general contractor was Korsmo Construction. The state mandates that all state-funded new construction and major renovations be designed, constructed and operated to at least a Silver LEED certification level.
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