Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Scope

The facility was designed by Smith Group – Living Building Challenge Certified facility in Virginia Beach and built by another large GC firm. Chris Brandt (Syncon Business Development) was the Executive Vice President for the entire design and Construction. This was the first Living Building Challenge to be designed and built on the East Coast. Structure was a poured in place concrete foundations, columns, and 2nd floor deck with 2nd floor exterior walls of structural studs covered by sinker cypress and standing seam metal roof with solar panels over 50% of the roof area. The project also included 2 wind turbines and waterless composting toilets. The exterior landscaping was composed of wetland plantings and rain-water collection systems. This building is the highest possible Lead rating, it is self-sustaining in every way possible.

Challenge

The challenge for this project was to achieve the sustainability level of “Living Building Challenge” which means that the entire facility can “live and operate” without any assistance from outside utilities for power, gas, water, wastewater, and storm drain. This is a task that only 4 other projects in the United States had achieved at the time of design and construction of the facility in 2012. All construction materials, fastners, cladding, and structural components had to be vetted that they were not manufactured by a process that was detrimental to the environment.

Solution

This took 2 full time project managers to perform the vetting and a very detailed inspection and verification of the power and water systems by the “Living Building Challenge” administration committee. The exterior cladding of the building was covered in cured sinker cypress from the bottom of the Mississippi river. Over 60% of the roof was covered with solar panels and there were 2 100′ tall wind turbines installed to provide power in addition to the solar panels. The result of the heavily staffed administration was a successful certification of Living Building Challenge 1 year after the facility was completed