BEST PRACTICES IN GREEN EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
Sidwell Friends School
Presenter: Casey Boss
Architect with Kieran Timberlake Associates, LLP, in Philadelphia, Pa.
Sidwell Friends School is an independent private school with two campuses. The six buildings of the middle and upper schools occupy a 15-acre campus in Washington, D.C., on a ridge between two watersheds. The 2001 master plan sought to transform a disparate collection of buildings into a physical demonstration of the school's values, unified by redeveloped landscaping. First introduced in master planning, sustainability goals continued to emerge during planning and programming as an expression of the ethic of stewardship at the core of this community. These included: understanding the whole ecological system; reconnecting the site to local geology, watershed, habitat and natural history; and restoring the "mystery of the landscape."
Water became a primary unifying element. Stored and filtered on the green roof, rainwater is rendered visible and aesthetic as it is directed via chain in open-faced downspouts to a trough along a ramp to a spillway and then to the biology pond (and an underground cistern for overflow and replenishment). The courtyard is a constructed wetland that recycles wastewater, and the terraced rice paddies reflect the topography of the landscape. The science of cleaning water through the nitrogen cycle is transformed into an aesthetic and educational event.
The building is a compass: no shading on the north for diffuse light; full horizontal shading on the south; and angled louvers to maximize shading on the east and west. Photovoltaic panels will generate five percent of the building's electricity and, like the solar chimneys that support natural ventilation, they will be learning stations for students.
This project was chosen as an AIA COPE Top Ten Green Project for 2007.
Additional Information
Sidwell Friends School: www.sidwell.edu/about_sfs/greenbuilding.asp
Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability
Presenter: Amanda Sturgeon, AIA, LEED AP
Senior Associate with Perkins+Will in Seattle, Wash.
The CIRS vision is to be an internationally recognized centre accelerating the adoption of sustainable building and urban development practices. Its leaders see this as an opportunity to make Canada a world leader in three interconnected fields of applied sustainability: sustainable building or construction practices, in which the west coast shows strong leadership and can become a design resource; engaging public support by showing people the consequences of different choices and helping them gain a broader understanding of the issues; and implementing regional partnerships among private, public and nonprofit entities employed in research and product development.
The planned CIRS facility will be one element in the development of a 26-acre former industrial site donated to the four major educational institutions that form the Great Northern Way Campus in Vancouver, British Columbia. CIRS is purchasing 115,000 square feet, with the intention of building a 140,000-square foot project.
The ultimate intent is for the building to act as a laboratory for sustainable building technology. The design team set goals that reflect the idea of a regenerative building that doesn't just minimize its environmental impact but makes a net positive contribution. The 22 design goals that have driven the schematic design thus far include:
a sustainable mobility program that provides a car co-op, shuttle bus, proximity to public transit and transit passes in order to justify having no parking on the site;
greenhouse gas neutrality throughout the operation of the building;
net energy production through photovoltaic and geothermal sources;
100 percent daylighting to reduce energy consumption and maximize occupant comfort;
100 percent rainwater collection for potable water use on the site; and
wastewater treatment on site for re-use in toilet flushing and irrigation.
One of the more striking aspects of the current design illustrates the potential of electro-chromatic glass to alter the appearance of the building's façade and to provide a translucent surface for solar shading by day and multimedia projections at night.
Additional Information
CIRS: www.cirs.ubc.ca
> DEEP INNOVATION: DESIGN FOR REAL BEHAVIOR CHANGE
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