A Seattle assisted living community is one of 10 developments — and the only senior living development — to be recognized for its overall excellence in design by real estate development and land use expert the Urban Land Institute.
Aegis Living Lake Union in Seattle is one of 10 developments selected for the 2023 ULI Americas Awards of Excellence, which recognize development efforts in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. The Aegis Living community specifically was singled out for recognition for its low-carbon development.
Hailed as the “world’s greenest senior living community” when it opened last summer, Aegis Living Lake Union was the first assisted living community built to meet the global green building standards for the Living Building Challenge Petal Certification through the International Living Future Institute. The community also is participating in Seattle’s Living Building Pilot Program.
The community is emission-free, using no fossil fuels, including no gas servicing the building. Standard electricity supports the entire 70,000-square-foot building and offsets 105% of the building’s total energy demand through various energy reduction measures, including an onsite solar array and offsite solar energy farms that generate 1.7 million kilowatt hours.
The community, according to Aegis Living, also reduced its overall energy draw by 25% compared with similar buildings through enhanced thermal envelope features, including triple-pane window glazing, exterior wall thermal insulation and heat recovery through forced-air ventilation.
The building has upper-level cedar cladding that is a naturally weathering renewable materials, sidewalk bioretention planters that reuse rainwater, and natural lighting in the dining rooms.
“When we embarked on the journey to create the world’s greenest senior living building, our goal was to set a new standard for what is possible, bringing an equal commitment to sustainable buildings and exceptional senior living,” Aegis Development President Adam Clark told McKnight’s Senior Living. “We made this dream a reality and hope to be a model for others serving our rapidly growing aging population.”
Aegis Development is a subsidiary of Aegis Living, providing development and design consulting services for senior living.
Winning projects in the ULI Americas awards program represent the highest standards of achievement in land use and are now finalists for the 2023 ULI Global Awards for Excellence, competing against projects form the Europe and Asia Pacific regions.
The program evaluates submissions on overall excellence, including achievements in marketplace acceptance, design, planning, technology, amenities, economic impact, management, community engagement, innovation and sustainability.
A 13-member jury of development, finance, planning, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture experts selected 20 finalists from 68 submitted projects, from which the 10 winners were chosen.
