City of Seattle Mike McGinn, Mayor

Traugott Terrace receives City’s SeaGreen Award
Belltown building is nation’s first affordable housing to receive
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design designation

SEATTLE – The City of Seattle will present its first SeaGreen Award for sustainable affordable housing to Traugott Terrace, a new 50-unit Belltown apartment building for low-income residents. Traugott Terrace used many green-building practices to become the first affordable housing project in the United States to receive Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The SeaGreen Award will be presented by Seattle Office of Housing Director Katie Hong at the Traugott Terrace open house, 2313 Third Avenue, at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 24. The community is welcome to attend.

The SeaGreen Award honors Traugott Terrace as the first affordable housing project in Seattle to be built under the City’s new sustainable building guidebook, SeaGreen: Greening Seattle’s Affordable Housing, produced by the City’s Office of Housing. Sustainable strategies at Traugott Terrace include:

• Energy-saving building envelope and windows, a heat-recovery ventilator and fluorescent lighting.
• Low flow plumbing fixtures, reducing water use by 33%, and saving $9,000 a year.
• Energy efficient gearless traction elevator (in lieu of hydraulic elevator) expected to save $2000 a year in energy costs.
• Energy Star rated roof coating. The coating is light color, reducing solar absorbency and minimizing the urban heat island effect.
• Recycled content materials in carpet, gypsum board, ceiling tile, insulation, steel siding, structural steel, and concrete.
• Contractor recycled over 75% of construction waste.

Traugott Terrace is owned by Archdiocesan Housing Authority, designed by Environmental Works, development assistance by Beacon Development Group, and built by Rafn Company. Funders include the City of Seattle Office of Housing, State Housing Trust Fund, KeyBank and Homestead Capital, low-income tax credit investor. City of Seattle financial incentives received were Seattle City Light’s Built Smart^SM for Affordable Housing and LEED Incentive Program funds.

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Office of Housing

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