From the onset of the project, many strategies were utilized to achieve the goal of Silver certification. In order to manage and improve indoor air quality, materials were carefully selected and specified, including low-VOC carpets, paints and adhesives. To reduce waste and the demand for virgin materials, many of the existing architectural features of the showroom, as well as office furnishings, were maintained. The USGBC recognized these efforts by awarding the Innovation in Design LEED credit for exceeding the existing standards for incorporating re-used and salvaged materials. Furthermore, through careful consideration in design, each of the space's occupants has multiple access points to exterior views.

The complex entailed the addition of two stories to the south portion of the building, creating a three-story structure, totaling nearly 35,000-sq.-ft, as well as the addition of a 12,000-sq.-ft. underground parking garage. The existing north portion of the building retained its original single-story design, but the interior was completely revamped to accommodate the new use. DPR was able to recycle and salvage more than 93 percent of the materials form existing structure, just one of the green friendly elements of this project.

The building's new interior features a Kodo, or multipurpose hall complete with a chapel for Buddhist ministerial training. To accomplish the exacting work of creating and installing the altar components in the chapel, the owner brought over wood workers and installers from Kyoto, Japan, which added another layer of complexity to the construction process.

The stores are more than just a place to sell products; it encourages consumers to “come, touch and test drive the products." This is why the interior is introduced to create openness and visibility across the store--to the products on display and to the customer activity. Central to the two-story space are a series of structural glass elements (stair, bridge and skylight) uniquely designed for Apple's High Profile Stores.

• The 183-bed UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital at Mission Bay with an urgent care/emergency department, pediatric primary care, and specialty outpatient care
• The UCSF Women's Specialty Hospital with 36 beds, cancer care, specialty surgery, and birth center
• UCSF Cancer Hospital at Mission Bay, Part of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center which will house 70 beds and offer inpatient and outpatient surgery for cancer specialties
• A 207,400-sq.-ft. outpatient building
• 36,000-sq.-ft. energy center, helipad, parking and support services

DPR is working with UCSF, Anshen + Allen - part of Stantec Architecture, Cambridge CM, and 17 subcontractors at the Integrated Center for Design and Construction (ICDC) to deliver the ground-up, 878,000-sq.-ft. hospital complex. This project aims at LEED Gold certification and will feature 16 individual gardens, creating a total green space totaling 4.3 acres. Over an acre of these will be rooftop gardens which will help to reduce storm water runoff. The complex will deliver 100 percent outdoor air, rather than re-circulated, to every space.

DPR's project manager for the $30 million, 60,000-sq.-ft. new addition to the project. “One Kearny includes the demolition of an existing three-story building, ground-up seismic construction of an 11-story high rise on one of the most logistically challenging sites in the city, the historical and seismic renovation of an existing 12-story building constructed in 1902, and the modernization of a building designed by famous architect Charles W. Moore.” said Jim Lacy, When completed in January 2009, the three adjoining buildings—the new 60,000-sq.-ft. building, the historic 1902 64,000-sq.-ft. building and the Charles W. Moore “annex,” which was added to the 1902 Building in 1956—will become one, with a shared opening between the three different addresses, and offer boutique office space and retail space on the ground floor.

Demolition of the existing three-story building began in August 2007 and construction started on the new 11-story addition in November 2007. With zero lay down area and only 800 sq. ft. of parking lane to deliver materials, the project team has had to employ a tower crane, set 240 ft. above one of San Francisco's busiest intersections, to immediately pick up materials and place them into the building.

Along with the tight Market Street location, the construction team is challenged with maintaining the integrity of the two historic buildings, while constructing the attached contemporary steel-framed addition designed by San Francisco architect and structural engineer Charles Bloszies. The project also includes a complete state-of-the-art seismic renovation, ADA compliant upgrades throughout the development, and installation of the latest telecommunications and security systems. In addition, new elevators and a new, energy-efficient curtain wall, which must look exactly the same as the old curtain wall to maintain the structure's historical building status, will be installed for the annex project. “We're delighted to be able to prove the depth of our technical expertise on this project,” said Lacy, “and it's equally as exciting to preserve and protect a significant piece of San Francisco's history.”

DPR with Pollack Architects helped Degenkolb meet their goals on a 26,000-sq.-ft. tenant improvement in the Russ Building for their new San Francisco office headquarters. The work consisted of partial demolition of the existing space, construction of open office areas, numerous conference rooms, a board room, private offices, a library, I.T. area and lobby.

One of the main challenges on this project was that the client decided after design was complete and during the demolition phase that they wanted to pursue LEED certification. DPR, with the rest of the team, had to roll up their sleeves and dig in, in order to get this done. DPR quickly created a LEED scorecard, identifying all achievable points and then assigned role and credit responsibilities to the project team. DPR then managed the plan and held each team member accountable for their assigned points. The status was communicated to the team using a responsibility matrix, so all team members knew where we were in our goal to achieve Silver certification.

We currently have 95% of all material and LEED template letters complete and uploaded to LEED On-Line and are awaiting review from the USGBC.

Performing a 45,000-sq.-ft. tenant improvement within a four-milion-sq.-ft. business complex with a daily population of 14,000 people in five months can be a tall order, especially with site logistics and stringent building regulations. In addition to the limited site and building regulations of Embarcadero Center, the team was faced with several immediate project hurdles, including the availability of only one freight elevator for all trades (even for traveling between the 10th and 11th floors), a compact schedule - coupled with incomplete plans for the stairway, the procurement of lighting and furniture, and working around the ongoing operations of neighboring companies.

Having access to only one elevator, particularly with a condensed schedule, posed a major productivity challenge. DPR's team quickly resolved the issue by cutting the slab for the communication stairway between the floors early and erecting a temporary set of stairs for use until the permanent stair was built. DPR worked closely with the architect to identify potential constructability issues with the design of the stairway itself. Knowing the architect had a short window to produce construction drawings, DPR proactively submitted a few sketches to help find a workable stairway solution and keep the schedule on track.

To solve the long lead times on the lighting package, the team collaborated on the proposed lighting package to shorten the standard submittal process, resulting in approval to release numerous fixtures early.

As with any project, minimizing disruptions caused by construction is a top priority. At Embarcadero Center, noise abatement efforts go into effect at 8 a.m., requiring contractors to perform the bulk of their work during off hours. However, an added element was upstairs neighbors, one of the nation's largest full-serviced securities firms, with business starting as early as 4 a.m. DPR took an extra step to minimize construction noise even during the early morning hours, sending a team member upstairs to literally monitor noise levels and act as an immediate conduit to the construction team if it got too loud.

Using 3D clash detection tools to identify and resolve conflicts before construction started has improved quality and efficiency enabling construction to finish on time, completing this highly complex project in 22-weeks. This technology, coupled with close collaboration, has helped the entire team be more efficient, making it another successful project for Autodesk.

Among its various green features, the renovated building is designed to reduce the lighting power density to 25 percent below the Title 24 energy requirements through the use of efficient lighting fixtures and controls. The existing building's 40-year-old HVAC system was replaced with a custom-designed, state-of-the-art energy efficient system. The complete renovation of the restrooms and pantry enabled the project to achieve exemplary water efficiency performance. Water consumption has been reduced by nearly 43 percent as a result of plumbing fixtures that were chosen. All adhesives and sealants in the building are below established VOC limits and the carpet meets the green building standard for low VOC emissions.

Features of the structure include:

• Floor plates measuring 16 feet floor-to-floor with low-vibration design
• Floor to ceiling glass for views and light
• Elevated garden and terraces
• Cogeneration system and multiple chillers
• On-site stormwater treatment via organic bioswales

This project, designed by Smithgroup, is a complicated shell structure. The two basement levels, required complex waterproofing and mat slab foundation systems. The moment frame/BBRF steel structure has “zones” designed for vibration sensitive laboratory equipment(2000 micro inches). The exterior skin is an intricate panelized curtainwall system. The central MEP systems are sized and designed to accommodate a full build-out of laboratory intensive program. The restricted urban site required tightly controlled traffic control, deliveries and staging. DPR provided all pre-construction- cost budgeting, value engineering constructability reviews, procurement/buy-out, and construction services for this project – start to finish.

Perched on the steeply rolling hillside of UCSF's Parnassus campus, the new green research facility supports 24 UCSF scientists and their teams in their goal to understand the basic biology of stem cells and to translate those discoveries into medical therapies for presently incurable diseases and debilitating injuries.

In addition to advancing the emerging field of stem cell research, the project utilized the latest design and construction tools and methodology, including building information modeling (BIM) and integrated project delivery (IPD). The core team took an integrated approach for this momentous project, drawing upon the principles of lean construction and used  BIM technologies to meet the schedule and budget and deliver a world-class green facility for breakthrough scientific research.

The UCSF RMB project, designed by renowned New York architect Rafael Viñoly, was one of 12 planned facilities in California awarded funds by CIRM's governing board, under a competitive two-stage application process that initially included 17 applications. The facility features wet laboratories, as well as laboratory support and office spaces, located on a series of split-level floors with terraced grass green roofs. The building is base isolated and seismically designed to move a maximum of 26 inches laterally during a significant earthquake with little or no damage.

The project was completed under budget and on schedule in January 2008. In order to meet Roche's schedule requirements, the steel had to be ordered prior to project award to make the mill manufacturing dates. To accommodate this, DPR released the steel early and coordinated with the steel vendors during the buy out to limit the owner's exposure. Each manufacturer submitted cost break-outs for the steel and for cancellation, allowing the Roche to assess prior to award the possible exposure they faced. Additionally, DPR self-performed over $5 million in concrete, drywall, doors/frames/hardware and rough carpentry.

The building was originally designed to meet LEED®-NC Certified rating. DPR Construction, Inc. acted as the LEED Project Team Administrator at no additional cost to the Owner. Using the DPR Project Status Report card, DPR submitted the final project and is in the review process for LEED-NC Silver Certification for an additional $15,000 premium to the Owner. DPR's LEED accredited project staff held regular meetings with the architect, engineer, and owner to facilitate the completion of all LEED online templates and supporting documents.

DPR helped compress the schedule by working closely with the plumbing subcontractor, KDS Plumbing, and structural engineer, DES, to redirect the underground kitchen drainage/wastelines from the original design to mitigate the need for running the lines through the building's floating structural slab directly under one of the screening rooms.

The new facilities at 400 Howard Street are to provide office accommodation for Barclays Global Investors:

1. For approximately 1,600 staff performing financial trading, back-office, marketing and head office management functions;
2. Trading floor functions on two floors;
3. Support facilities and amenities for staff commensurate with those of world class financial institutions;
4. IT and audio visual systems to support current and future information and communication technologies; and
5. Mission critical business infrastructure that has a resilience level of N+I.