[12] The name comes from greenstone, a rock found in great quantity in the area, from which the gold that led to Yellowknife's development was extracted.

Heating efficiency is such that the building remains adequately warm during subzero winter days when many adjacent offices have to close.

[7] The building's green design reportedly saves CDN$80,000 in energy costs and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 370 tonnes (410 short tons) each year.

The Bellanca Building, once the tallest, and the 60-metre (200 ft) Centre Square Mall tower, the current champion, are within blocks.

A block to the west the urban development gives way to open space in the form of a park along the lake shore next to City Hall.

On the north development continues for many blocks before an area of taiga and exposed Canadian Shield bedrock buffers the descent to Old Town, the original city, on a peninsula extending into the bay.

[23] On the rear is a 48-metre-long (157 ft)[2] curved curtain wall between two engaged flat-roofed stair towers, connecting the far corners of both sections.

Its wide overhanging eave, with another red cornice at the roofline, is supported by several dual steel flat-plate brackets extending to the ground.

[20] The rear entrance is a smaller portico faced in rusticated stone with a red cornice, flat roof, and single door in a similar glass treatment with light fixtures flanking its upper corners.

[21] The inside of the building is dominated by a full-height atrium, illuminated mostly by natural light coming in through the curtain wall on the south.

An open slanted wooden spiral staircase, echoing the many mineshaft towers in the Yellowknife area, complements the elevators in providing access.

[24] While the site on which Yellowknife now sits was long known to the Dene whose copper knives later gave it its name, and had been visited by European explorers in the late 18th century, it did not attract any settlement until gold was found in the greenstone belts of the Canadian Shield underlying the area.

[16][25] After the war the federal government, which administered the Northwest Territories directly, realized the community needed space to grow and established New Town further inland, building the city's post office there.

[25] With vacant properties all over Yellowknife, the federal government decided it was time to build a central headquarters for the many agencies that had been scattered across downtown for decades.

At the end of 2001, it bought the property on Franklin between 51st and 52nd for just under CDN$2 million,[26] then occupied by a building that had during the boom years housed Hudson's Bay and Canadian Tire retail stores.

[4] As part of its integrated design process, which aimed to both create an exemplary environmental building and a public space for downtown Yellowknife, Manasc Isaac sought community input.

Charrettes were held in conjunction with community roundtables, where input was sought from stakeholders, and the architects in turn learned about local construction and design practices.

This would maximize the building's exposure to the sun, especially in wintertime[5] when Yellowknife receives as little as four hours of daylight and temperatures drop as low as −50 °C (−58 °F), allowing it to warm the atrium in the center, envisioned as a "winter room".

It would also provide some electricity via 353 square metres (3,800 sq ft)[2] of embedded solar cells, a feature made possible by a Natural Resources Canada grant program.

[28] Artificial heat was provided by propane boilers, which emit less carbon than the fuel oil commonly used in the city during cold weather.

[27] For the structural system, Manasc and its consulting engineer decided to use flat concrete slabs instead of more conventional steel framing, for two reasons.

[25] In 20 hours of daylight with only four-hour white nights to provide respite,[30] the overuse of air conditioning frequently leads to brownouts and as many as 50 power outages a year.

This both made it attractive as green space for workers to relax in on breaks[28] and served to retain some of the rainwater that fell on it in a 13,000-litre (3,400 US gal) tank for non-potable uses such as watering the landscaping instead of letting it flow into the sewers.

[31] PCL was able to incorporate potentially problematic groundwater found during construction into the supply for the building's washrooms, which were further equipped with waterless urinals and dual flush toilets to reduce usage.

[32] One of the planned bands of cells had to be abandoned when the euro appreciated enough against the Canadian dollar during construction as to make its cost prohibitive.

In recognition of the name's geological origins, the location of the West Bay Fault beneath the building is marked on the lobby floor.

[33] Northwest Territories premier Joe Handley expressed his belief that the new building would help his government work better with their federal counterparts.

"[34] Several years after the building opened, Manasc Isaac undertook a post-occupancy evaluation to find out how it had performed, and what could be learned for future projects.

[7] In some months, the solar cells in the curtain wall actually outperformed their target, generating over 2,500 kWh during March and April.

Despite overwhelming use of the windows (which they admitted helped keep the air fresh) and location-specific thermal controls, almost half rated their ability to reach their personally desired level as "less than adequate."