McKinstry Co., the Seattle-based construction and energy-efficiency contractor, says it has reached deep inside its own toolbox to construct a showcase for its expertise in sustainable development and maintaining green practices at its Inland Northwest hub.

The company, which in 2010 bought the former railroad and warehouse building, at 850 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., just west of Hamilton Street, has invested $20 million so far to restore and renovate it, says Kim Pearman-Gillman, McKinstry's Spokane-based business development director.

McKinstry has renamed the 105-year-old structure the SIERR Building at McKinstry Station in reference to its original occupant, the Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad Co., an early electric railroad line.

In perhaps the most visible elements of the project, McKinstry has replaced 168 windows to restore daylight throughout the building.

For historic-preservation purposes, the panes had to match in appearance the original windows, some of which had been filled with brick and concrete masonry blocks for much of the building's life.

While restoring aesthetics, the windows are also a sustainable-development feature, Pearman-Gillman says.

Sustainable development is a term used for striving to meet current needs without detracting from future generation's abilities to meet their own needs.

"It originally was a daylight building," Pearman-Gillman says of the SIERR building. McKinstry capitalized on that by designing the interior to take light deep inside the building, reducing use of overhead electrical lighting.

"That takes our energy use down," she says.

One of McKinstry's biggest energy savers in the SIERR Building is a ground-source heat pump system, which transfers heat from the ground into the building when it's cold outside, and removes heat from the interior of the building in warmer seasons.

The heat pump system involves 25 closed loop vertical pipes that go 185 feet deep and circulate a liquid refrigerant through the system. The ground temperature, which is a consistent 55 degrees year-round, regulates the temperature of the refrigerant, eliminating the need for cooling towers for air-conditioning and negating the need to fire up the building's two small auxiliary boilers for heating, except in the most extreme conditions.

"We didn't have to turn them on all winter," Pearman-Gillman says of the boilers.

Efficient electrical and plumbing fixtures and other conservation measures also contribute to energy savings totaling 40 percent and water savings of 30 percent beyond minimum standards, Pearman-Gillman says.

"We design systems for everyone else, so we know these products inside and out," Pearman-Gillman says.

The project achieved the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold rating for commercial interiors, the second highest of rating levels developed by the U.S. Green Building Council for building improvements. The SIERR Building is one of a handful of historical buildings in Washington state to reach that standard, Pearman-Gillman says.

In addition to environmental factors, the commercial-interior rating focuses on aspects of a project that contribute to employee productivity, such as thermal comfort, access to daylight views, minimizing interior pollutants, and light and temperature controls, she says.

McKinstry hired local contractors and subcontractors for most facets of the SIERR project, she says. "We use local people so they don't have to fly in from everywhere," she says.

Spokane-based Lydig Construction Inc. was the general contractor on the restoration and renovation project.

The Spokane office of Seattle-based DCI Engineers provided structural and civil engineering services.

McKinstry handled its own mechanical, electric, and data contracting. It also handled architectural metals and interior architecture.

The company worked with Design Source Inc., of Spokane on the interior design.

Nearly three dozen other Inland Northwest subcontractors also were on the project team, Pearman-Gillman says.

McKinstry substantially completed improvements to 30,000 square feet of the 68,000-square-foot structure, and moved there in October.

Pearman-Gillman says 85 McKinstry employees work in the SIERR Building. Depending on projects under way, McKinstry employs up to 250 people throughout the Inland Northwest, she says.

Last week the company said it's developing the remaining 38,000 square feet to be the McKinstry Innovation Center that's planned to house new and emerging companies with products and services that focus on life sciences, education, high-tech, and clean technology.

The Innovation Center construction is scheduled to be completed this summer. The construction team on that project includes Lydig Construction, McKinstry, and DCI Engineers.

McKinstry also has moved its shop operations to the 30,000-square-foot former Habitat for Humanity surplus building supply store site, which is north across a parking lot from the SIERR building.

Pearman-Gillman says consolidating the operations is a sustainable measure in that it reduces travel, time, and labor costs associated with operating two sites separated by distance.

The reuse of materials also is a major component of sustainability, Pearman-Gillman says.

She says 75 percent of the structure has been preserved or reused on site, and 93 percent of construction waste materials were recycled.

She says McKinstry only had to replace one of the dozens of massive timber cross beams that span the top of the building. That timber was repurposed as a long mantle in the lobby, she says.

McKinstry even found the original, local manufacturer of the brick in the building and was able to match bricks that needed to be replaced, Pearman-Gillman says.

Common space in the building is ornamented with historic photos and antique items found in the building.

"We kept a lot of the old," she says. "It's like doing industrial art. Everything is authentic to the building and the history of Spokane."

McKinstry salvaged two large truckloads of items and material from inside the building for future reuse, she says.

The company also evaluated new materials for sustainability.

"Even new stuff like the carpet is made of recycled materials," she says.

Employee transportation also is considered in sustainability.

To reduce commute trips, McKinstry worked with the Spokane Transit Authority to ensure the building was connected to public transportation. The site also is close to the Centennial Trail.

The company reserves its preferred parking spaces for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles, and it has inside storage for bicycles.

Pearman-Gillman says a company could erect a new building for less than McKinstry has invested in the SIERR building, but it wouldn't be anything like the historic structure.

"New construction is cheaper only if you don't want the texture of a building like this," she says.

The sustainable features incorporated in the project should continue to provide savings through efficiency for the next century, as long as they're maintained, which is another area of McKinstry's expertise, Pearman-Gillman says.

"Operating and maintaining a building over the long run is just as important as how it's built," she says.