The Allenby Building is the first major project to be completed under DGS’s State Projects Infrastructure Fund (SPIF) program, and it has raised the bar for other California office buildings in terms of energy efficiency. The Allenby Building will use 60 percent less water than similarly sized office buildings, and it will operate using 100 percent solar energy through the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
A few additional standout features of this sustainable office building include:
- S. Resiliency Council (USRC) Platinum certification for earthquake resiliency. The Allenby Building is the first California state-owned building with a USRC rating. This rating system measures the building’s expected performance and safety potential for people to get out of the building in an earthquake.
- Fitwel certified for health and wellness
- Reclaimed water system that recycles rainwater and greywater for use in the building’s toilets, reducing 60 percent of the water baseline demand.
- An energy use intensity (EUI) of 25 and below
- Underfloor air distribution
- Radiant conditioning using passive chilled sails and perimeter radiant heat delivery.
- Exceptional air quality using electrostatic filters, which provide high-level filtration to 100 percent outside air with reduced energy and maintenance.
- Service hot water heat recovery
- Connection to the Central Utility Plant
Since obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy in late May, several government agencies have moved into this office building, including the Department of Developmental Services, the Department of State Hospitals, and the California Health and Human Services Agency.
Working on a tight urban site
The project site is located a block away from the State Capitol in downtown Sacramento, adjacent to the Sacramento Regional Transit, the city’s light rail system. To avoid disruption to light rail service and maintain vehicular traffic flow, our SIS team prepared the initial site logistics plan during the Performance Criteria Phase of the project. Working with a Skanska superintendent specializing in urban high-rise construction—a value added benefit provided by a builder-based organization—the logistics plan included haul routes and tower crane location for planning.
Identifying potential subcontractor trade resource conflicts
DGS was concerned about a shortage of trade labor resources at the start of the Allenby Building project, given that another SPIF project was under construction at the same time. Responding to DGS’s concern, SIS evaluated the construction schedules of both projects to determine potential subcontractor trade conflicts competing for the same skilled labor resources. Our analysis identified a handful of key sub trades’ whose work was planned to occur at the same time. With this information, DGS informed both project teams of the potential conflicts and provided valuable knowledge to mitigate potential competing delays.
Creating a successful partnership
Over the duration of this project, our team continued Skanska’s trusted partnership with DGS and developed additional relationships with project team members and the project stakeholders. As Skanska’s program management and consulting arm, our SIS team can maintain strong client engagement between building opportunities, which is of immense value to our organization.
“The Skanska team’s leadership and self-motivation to take on numerous challenges and be successful made them trusted partners with DGS. Their builder background and foresight helped us navigate complex issues for the design-build team, and they consistently went above and beyond for this flagship building project, from project management controls and schedule reviews to MEPS coordination. This has equated in the Allenby Building being named Project of The Year in Sacramento from the Sacramento Business Journal,” said Raaj Patel, project director III for DGS.