High Performing Buildings - Spring 2008 - (Page 21)

Site Ecology The visitor center sits near two trail heads leading into the park and to the historic mill ruins. Although the building serves as the physical and ceremonial gateway to the park, it was designed to blend with the site’s natural topography. The roof along the north side of the building follows the natural grade, and the south side of the building opens up to expansive views of the forest. Landscaping consists of indigenous species. Disturbed areas are returning to natural, predevelopment state as naturally occurring volunteer species repopulate the areas. To minimize impervious surfaces, sidewalks are made of pervious concrete and granite ﬁnes, and the ﬁre lane is made of mulch. Shallow vegetated storm water inﬁltration basins are integrated into the site design to reduce visual impact. Combined with rain harvesting on the roof and water-retaining vegetated roofs, the inﬁltration basins prevent any net increase in rate and quantity of storm water runoff compared to predevelopment conditions. Passive Design Strategies Passive solar design strategies consider the building’s orientation and latitude and include fenestration, shading devices and lightshelves. The long axis of the rectangular building is oriented east-west, and clerestory windows along the north and south façade provide abundant daylight to the building interior. Twin interior lightshelves along the south clerestory bounce light deeper into the main exhibition space. Three-dimensional computer modeling of the sunlight angles at various times of the day and year aided in designing and sizing the south façade exterior roof overhang and sunshade. With electric lights off or dimmed below 20% during daylight hours, 41% of the total building area uses daylight as the dominant light source. This excludes exhibit lighting. The center is cut into the hillside on the north, east and west sides. The earth-sheltered approach weaves the building into the site and boosts the building envelope’s energy efﬁciency. Additionally, 37% of the building’s roofs are landscaped using B U I L D I N G AT A G L A N C E Building Name Sweetwater Creek State Park Visitor Center Location Sweetwater Creek State Park, Lithia Springs, Ga. Size 8,743 ft2 Started Fall 2004 Completed Summer 2006 Use Interpretive Center Cost $1,534,393 or $175/ft2 Distinctions LEED-NC Platinum; One of only 20 LEED-NC Platinum buildings in the world at the time of certification and the first in the southeastern United States BUILDING TEAM Owner Georgia Department of Natural Resources Architect Gerding Collaborative, LLC LEED Consultant Donna McIntire, RA Structural Engineer Palmer Engineering Mechanical Engineer Johnson Spellman & Associates, Inc. Electrical Engineer Barnett Consulting Engineers, Inc. Exhibit Consultant Deem Loureiro, Inc. Landscape Architect Jon Benson & Associates, Inc. Civil Engineer Long Engineering, Inc. Cost Estimator ADE Construction Consultants Commissioning Commissioning & Green Building Solutions, Inc. Solar photovoltaic panels on the south-facing portions of the roof generate approximately 20% of the building’s electricity. Spring 2008 HIGH PERFORMING BUILDINGS 21

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of High Performing Buildings - Spring 2008

High Performing Buildings - Spring 2008
Daikin AC (Americas)
Contents
Seattle City Hall
SEMCO
3M Energy & Advanced Materials
Price
Sofame Technologies Inc.
Sweetwater Creek Visitor Center
ASHRAE Certification
Greenheck
Daylighting Strategies That Maximize Benefits
Energy Conservatory, The
ASHRAE e-learning
Ecobuild America
CTG Energetics, Inc.
Cambridge City Hall Annex
Tate Access Floors, Inc
Air-Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute
31 Tannery Project
Building Owners & Managers Institute
Indian Springs Discovery Center
International Facility Management Association
ASHRAE Healthcare
Fulton Companies, The
AAON, Inc.

High Performing Buildings - Spring 2008