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PROJECT PROFILE

LEED® Facts

NASA Johnson Space Center

Building 29

Houston, TX

LEED for New Construction version 2 -

Certification Awarded March 2012

Silver 33*

Sustainable Sites 6/14

Water Efficiency 2/5

Energy & Atmosphere 3/17

Materials & Resources 6/13

Indoor Environmental Quality 11/15

Innovation & Design 5/5

*Out of a possible 69 points

Johnson Space Center

Building 29

Houston, Texas

LEED for New Construction

10% Recycled Content

11.2% Less energy 

29% Regional Materials

31.5% Reduced Potable Water Usage

75.7% Tradable Renewable Certificates

80% Wood used harvested from FSC forests
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PROJECT PROFILE

NASA Johnson Space Center – Building 29

A Very Historical Building Still Pays Off

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Building 29 has a total of 58,423 square feet within it’s main building. It includes open offices, 

enclosed offices, conference rooms, and a main briefing room. The building structure was left 

the same, but new walls and windows were added. The rotunda (a cylindrically shaped high 

bay attached to the main building) was also updated during reconstruction. It has been 

renovated to support future NASA spacecraft hardware and software integration verification 

testing, as depicted on the first page.

SUSTAINABLE SITES (6/14)

The project site is located within 0.5 miles of a minimum of 10 community services and a 

residential district with a minimum density of 10 units per acre. Building 29 also provides one 

preferred parking space for low-emitting and fuel efficient vehicles. No new parking has been 

added to the site. 

WATER EFFICIENCY (2/5)

The project has reduced potable water use by 31.5% from a calculated baseline design 

through the installation of ultra-low flow lavatory faucets, dual-flush flushometers, and low-flow 

sinks. 

ENERGY & ATMOSPHERE (3/17)

The project performs 11.2% better using the ASHRAE 90.1-2004 Appendix G methodology. 

Additionally, Building 29 has a purchased Green-E accredited Tradable Renewable 

Certificates (REC) equal to 75.7% of the predicted annual electrical consumption over a oneyear period. No CFC-based refrigerants (ozone depleting) substances were used in the HVAC 

system. 

MATERIALS & RESOURCES (6/13)

The project is a renovation of an existing building and 95.88% of the existing wall, floor, and 

roof elements have been maintained. The project has diverted 1,859 cubic yards (89.85%) of 

on-site generated construction waste from landfill. 10% of the total building materials content, 

by value, has been manufactured using recycled materials. 79.75% of the total wood-based 

building materials are harvested from FSC certified forests.

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (11/15)

The project ‘s CO2 concentrations within naturally ventilated spaces is monitored using 

interior sensors mounted in the occupied spaces between three and six feet above the floor. 

Low emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings , carpets, composite wood, and agrifiber 

used in construction comply with VOC limits . Lighting controls have been provided to enable 

100% of occupants to make adjustments to suit individual tasks needs and preferences, and 

to permit transient groups to share lighting controls in all shared multi-occupant spaces.

INNOVATION IN DESIGN (5/5)

The project received exemplary performance for its innovation in reduction of Mercury based 

lighting, use of Tradable Renewable Certificates, and open space accommodation.

“The rotunda of Building 29 originally 

housed the Flight Acceleration Facility 

for human testing of up to 30 centrifugal 

Gs of acceleration during the Apollo 

missions. In 1985 it was the converted 

into the Weightless Environment 

Training Facility (WETF) through the 

inclusion of a pool for extravehicular 

activity (EVA) testing. The Neutral 

Buoyancy Laboratory replaced the 

WETF, in 1996. And, for a short period 

following, the WETF pool also served 

as the astronaut rehabilitation center 

until completion of Building 26, a JSC 

LEED gold building.” 

Laurie Peterson,

JSC Sustainability Champion

Owner: NASA, Johnson Space Center 

Architect: HOK Architects

Structural Engineer: Walter P. Moore

MEP Engineer: HOK Architects

Commissioning Authority: Page 

Sutherland Page

Contractor: Sauer Inc.

Project Size: 58,423 SF

Project Cost: $20,737,000

Completion: December 2010

Photography: NASA

ABOUT LEED

The LEED Green Building Rating 

System is the national benchmark for 

the design, construction, and operations 

of high-performance green buildings. 

Visit the U.S. Green Building Council’s 

Web site at www.usgbc.org and the TX 

Gulf Coast Chapter of USGBC at 

www.usgbctexasgulfcoast.org to learn 

more about how you can make LEED 

work for you.

The WETF in 1995