OPUS NW 7.
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OPUS NORTHWEST – 7TH AND MADISON
do and all of their buildings will be green
and seek LEED certification.”
‘Sensible Sustainability’
Achieving general LEED certification is
considered an easy task these days, but for
most contractors, gold certification remains
challenging and expensive. Opus practices
a “Sensible Sustainability” system that
aligns the company’s design/build capabili-
ties with its clients’ budgets and build-
ing goals.
“At every stage of the development
process, we leverage design and construc-
tion practices that maximize building
performance and reduce the impact of
buildings on the environment,” the com-
pany says.
Furthermore, Opus focuses its efforts
on five areas:
■ Sustainable site planning;
■ Safeguarding water;
■ Energy efficiency and renewable energy;
■ Conserving materials and resources; and
■ Indoor environmental quality.
“To date, we’ve brought more than 3
million square feet of LEED-certified
projects to life, thanks in part to the
143 ■ WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM ■ FEBRUARY 2009
vision and skill of our 150-plus LEED-
accredited professionals,” Opus says.
“Sustainable development makes up
almost 20 million square feet of Opus’
35 million-square-foot pipeline, encom-
passing office, industrial, retail, multi-
family and mixed-use projects in the
United States and Canada.”
Team Opus
Opus Northwest LLC is the project devel-
oper for 7th and Madison. Its construc-
tion arm, Opus Northwest Contractors, is
the general contractor. Opus Architects
and Engineers is the project’s engineer.
The only member of the project team
not affiliated with Opus is architect
NBBJ, also based in Seattle.
“The majority of our work is in-house,”
Bischoff says.
He says that when divisions of Opus
work together on a project, communica-
tion is usually flawless and it is easier to
coordinate the trades.
“It’s a lot more coordinated because you
have all of the in-house development, pre-
construction, construction and design,” he
notes.
Overcoming Challenges
Bischoff says the most challenging aspect
to the 7th and Madison project has been
lack of space on site. One side of the
building faces an interstate off ramp and
can never be closed. “This makes it diffi-
cult to stage materials and coordinate the
delivery of materials without having the
ability to close down the street,” he says.
Opus overcomes this challenge by pre-
fabricating as much of the material as
possible to reduce the need for on-site
storage. It works closely with city offi-
cials to coordinate activities such as
scheduling deliveries, working off hours
and lane closures. It also maintains good
relationships with its subcontractors,
who partner with the company on devel-
oping value-engineered ideas.
“For this project, we secured our mate-
rials a year ahead of time to avoid price
escalation on the aluminum curtainwall
materials,” Bischoff says.
“We were able to get a lot of input
from the subcontractors during the
design phase, which makes for a well-
coordinated design and helps the effi-
ciency during construction.” ■