Kim Waldron, United States Air Forces Europe, Director of Weather
Sun shines on Offutt's new weather agency headquarters BY TIM ELFRINK WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Morning sunlight poured through a two-story wall of lobby windows and onto a stage in the Air Force Weather Agency's new headquarters Wednesday as the agency welcomed its new commander, Col. John D. Murphy.
For the Air Force forecasters at the ceremony, the soft natural light illuminated everything that their new headquarters building at Offutt Air Force Base offers over their current home in the World War II-era Martin bomber plant building.
Aiming to be one of the Air Force's first LEED-certified, environmentally friendly "green" structures, the building is designed to cut waste with everything from waterless urinals to sustainable local grass and plants.
The new building also increases comfort — with easily reconfigured offices and abundant natural light.
"'Dungeon' is a pretty good description of their old headquarters," said Ken Hahn, owner of Kenneth Hahn Architects of Omaha, which designed the new headquarters. "There was not one little ray of sunlight to find in that office."
For the 600 airmen and civilians who work at the agency's Offutt headquarters, moving into the new headquarters next month will mean a boost in morale and a more efficient place to produce forecasts for military commanders around the world, Murphy said.
"It's not just the quality of life it offers, but to walk through building, you'll see much more synergy and efficiency," he said.
The U.S. Green Building Council sets benchmarks for environmentally friendly construction projects, certifying those that meet a stringent set of guidelines. Nationally, more than 1,300 buildings have been green-certified and an additional 10,000 have applied.
Nebraska has three LEED-certified buildings, and an additional 21 — including the Offutt weather headquarters — have asked to be certified. In Iowa, there are seven certified buildings, and 25 more have registered.
"In Omaha and in Nebraska there's been a big interest in going green recently," said Tim Hemsath, chairman of the Green Building Council's Nebraska chapter.
The weather agency's headquarters would be just the third Air Force building to receive national green recognition, said Ashley Katz, a spokeswoman for the Green Buildings Council in Washington.
To meet the weather agency's needs with less environmental impact, Hahn's firm tried to limit its impact on the base's land and produce an energy-efficient building.
To cut down on construction waste, the building used an old Offutt tarmac for its parking lot and used a number of recycled materials in the building process, Hahn said.
Rainwater is designed to run off the roof into several retaining ponds, which return the moisture to local groundwater.
The building's roof is painted white to keep it cooler, and air ducts buried under the structure's floor will help keep workers cool with fewer fans and less air conditioning. Every room is equipped with motion-sensor lights that automatically shut off when no one is present.
"The whole idea of creating a building with as small a footprint as possible is a very worthwhile endeavor and something we'll see more and more of," Hahn said.
In addition to the tall windows around the new headquarters, the building includes a third-floor observation deck for forecasters to watch firsthand whatever weather may be swirling through the Bellevue atmosphere.
"That's unusual for weather guys, giving them all these windows to see what's happening outside," Murphy joked.
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