Lynnwood City Center Station campus earns LEED Gold certification

Just two months ahead of the opening of the Lynnwood Link Extension on Aug. 30, Lynnwood City Center Station has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The certification is for the entire station campus, including the station, parking garage and public plaza areas. LEED certification provides independent verification of sustainable design and is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.

"This LEED Gold certification for Lynnwood City Center Station is a significant milestone, exemplifying our commitment to sustainability," said King County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dow Constantine. "It sets a high standard for future stations and serves as a powerful reminder that the environmental benefits of light rail extend far beyond the transit system itself."

"This achievement is the result of the hard work and shared vision of the construction team, engineers, designers and Sound Transit staff who collaborated on the Lynnwood station," said Terri Mestas, Sound Transit’s Deputy CEO for Mega Capital Project Delivery. "They fulfilled Sound Transit’s commitment to creating a sustainable campus that will serve as a model for future LEED certification of other new Sound Transit stations and that will become a new standard throughout the system."

Key members of the design team were LMN as station architects, HNTB as lead engineers, and O’Brien 360 for sustainability certification. Skanska Constructors L300 JV did the civil construction for the project.

The certification recognized several areas of achievement, including the quality of the transit connections at the station, protection of habitat including restoration of Scriber Creek, energy efficiency of lighting and mechanical systems, and diversion of construction waste.

Specific achievements include the following:

• 30% energy cost reduction vs the ASHRAE 90.1 baseline, with advanced metering for real-time monitoring
• 34% indoor water use reduction through efficient fixtures vs EPA baseline
• 71% reduction in irrigation water use through native, drought-tolerant plant species vs EPA baseline
• 85% of open space covered in vegetation via pedestrian promenade, walkways, bike trails, and planting areas
• 81% of construction waste diverted from landfills
• 100% of paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, flooring, ceiling, and insulation met LEED low-VOC requirements

Lynnwood City Center Station is the terminus of the Lynnwood Link Extension. The elevated station is served by a five-story, 1,670-space parking garage, which opened last year, and the Lynnwood Transit Center bus exchange which is expected to have 9,500 passenger boardings daily. 

The other stations on the Lynnwood extension are:

• Shoreline South/148th Station. Located just northeast of I-5 at the NE 145th Street exit, the elevated Shoreline South/148th Station includes a parking garage with approximately 500 new spaces as part of the project.
• Shoreline North/185th Station. Located on the east side of I-5, the Shoreline North/185th Station serves Shoreline Stadium, the Shoreline Conference Center and the surrounding neighborhoods. Improved pedestrian pathways connect the station to the west side of I-5. A parking garage with approximately 500 new spaces is part of the project.
• Mountlake Terrace Station. Located east of I-5 at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center just north of 236th Street Southwest, west of Veterans Memorial Park, the elevated Mountlake Terrace Station straddles 236th Street Southwest, and is a short walk from the Mountlake Terrace Library, new city hall and future transit-oriented development. There are 890 existing parking spaces near the station.