December 2, 2011 – President Barack Obama and Former President Bill Clinton were given a construction tour of 815 Connecticut Avenue, which is located just one block from the White House. Presidents Obama and Clinton tour a 45-year-old B+ Class office building being converted by Forrester Construction to a trophy green facility in order to support the owner’s vision for a high-performance, sustainable facility.

Presidents Obama And Clinton

The purpose of the visit was a press conference announcing nearly $4 billion in combined federal and private sector energy upgrades to buildings over the next two years. These investments are part of the Better Buildings Challenge, and will save billions in energy costs, promote energy independence, and, according to independent estimates, create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction sector. The Challenge is part of the Better Buildings Initiative launched in February by President Obama, and is spearheaded by former President Clinton and the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness to support job creation by catalyzing private sector investment in commercial and industrial building energy upgrades to make America’s buildings 20 percent more efficient over the next decade, reducing energy costs for American businesses by nearly $40 billion.

The construction tour included a visit to the building’s MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) penthouse to observe the mechanical upgrades, and the 12th floor to view the old and new exterior facades currently under construction. Forrester Construction representatives assisted with the tour explaining the energy efficiencies being put in place to this 200,000 SF, 12-story building along with the construction processes and worker participation. The project includes a complete mechanical refurbishment of an occupied building including replacing the existing DX cooling towers, hydronic pumps, chillers, hydronic heaters, outside air dampers, cooling coils, and all necessary piping for the system to operate, as well as replacement of the existing masonry and precast concrete building façade with a new unitized curtainwall system and storefront system, replacement of the building core toilet rooms and electrical closets, main lobby renovation, new rear lobby with porte-cochere for valet drop-off, new fitness center and new plaza.

The building is managed by Transwestern, Project is managed by DRI Development Services. Project Design Team is VOA Architects, KCE Structural Engineers and Loring Consulting Engineers.