The border patrol's armed-and-dangerous alerts, issued several times a week when a suspicious border crosser was recognized, disrupted work and, at times, caused panic, says Don Kuhn, project manager for the electrical subcontractor, Bergelectric Corp. When an alert was issued, crews were encouraged to crouch and hide behind something bullet-resistant, such as an engine, a pillar or a column.

Beyond security, there were site safety concerns. For example, contractors working below grade had to give crews 40 hours of hazardous-materials training to recognize and deal with any toxic soil.

Overcapacity

Planning for the upgrade started more than 10 years ago. "The North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 had intensified cross-border transportation, and 9/11 introduced new admission requirements," says GSA's Kleppe. "The port was overcapacity."

The project kept growing in scale and complexity. In addition to required GSA and CBP approval, buy-in from the region's stakeholders, including Mexican officials, was critical. To help with the process, CBP provided its own project managers, says Keith McCoy, senior project manager for URS Corp., the construction manager for administration.

GSA's goals for all its land-port projects are similar. The aim is to add security and antiterrorism enhancements; improve pedestrian and vehicular processing; provide greater officer and public safety; improve the traveler's experience and increase operational efficiency while decreasing costs.

SYLPOE's team has exceeded GSA goals. Instead of a LEED Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, SYLPOE is rated LEED Platinum, the highest rating ever for a land port.

SYLPOE has a coordinated design for stormwater, wastewater and energy systems. Consequently, the port is independent of local utilities for water for non-potable uses, for wastewater treatment and for energy. Designing for net-zero energy, non-potable water and wastewater called for a rare, interdisciplinary collaboration of MKA, the mechanical-electrical-plumbing-energy engineer Interface Engineering, architect Miller Hull and the landscape architect AECOM.

The system, which saves 20 million gallons of utility water annually, treats all water on-site, including wastewater, as a commodity. With only 11 in. of annual rainfall, water costs are expected to rise 10% each year.

With a 14-year payback period, the system is expected to save GSA $19 million in operating costs over 40 years, says MKA, which led the development of the stormwater-wastewater reuse plan. Wastewater is treated by a membrane bioreactor housed in the basement of the new, 83,000-sq-ft headhouse and reused.

"Not too many buildings have a wastewater treatment center," says Andy Frichtl, Interface's managing principal. "We are also pulling heat out of the waste for use in the mechanical system."

SYLPOE's stormwater system harvests runoff from roofs and 232 acres of hillside. Overflow from a 300,000-gallon cistern goes to a bioswale, converted from an existing concrete channel. Site grading captures runoff in high-performance planting areas, reducing the amount of underground piping by more than 1.7 miles, says MKA.

Net-zero energy is achieved through 1.53 MW of photovoltaic power production, which will produce 2.1 million KWH/year. A 5,100-sq-ft solar-thermal array provides hot water. Plans call for 120,000 linear ft of geo-exchange tubing, which either pulls heat out of the earth or accepts extra heat rejected by buildings.

Counting the headhouse and primary and secondary inspection-area canopies, phase one involved 227,000 sq ft of construction, including the 46 primary inspection booths. Work also included a new pedestrian facility, adjacent transit facilities and the pedestrian bridge.

The next phase, likely to be bid in the fall and completed in 2018, will create a new I-5 southbound connection to Mexico, southbound inspection facilities, 17 more northbound, covered primary booths and an employee parking structure.

The $216-million final phase, funded this month, calls for an administration and pedestrian-processing building and a central holding facility. The historic port building and a pedestrian plaza will be renovated.

The 75-person Miller Hull firm was not the original master planner-architect. In 2004, GSA hired Ross Drulis Cusenbery Architecture (RDC), then a 30-person firm. At that time, the development cost was $100 million to $125 million.

Approval of RDC's master plan took several years. During that time, the project almost quadrupled in size. In April 2009, GSA ended its contract with RDC, under a no-fault termination for convenience, says Mallory Cusenbery, RDC design principal. RDC's only constructed design is the pedestrian bridge.

"There is a process for approving designs by [GSA's]Public Building Service commissioner and chief architect, and RDC's design never progressed beyond this phase in the process," says Traci R. Madison, GSA's Region 9 communications manager. Citing policy, she declined to be more specific about the termination.

After a second interview process, GSA selected the Miller Hull-MKA team, in January 2010. To meet GSA's latest revised schedule for a 2014 completion of phase one, the designers proposed a monthly two-day, in-person review process. Turnaround time for typical reviews would have been two weeks, not two days.