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Environmental Center
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Annapolis, Maryland
Highlighting
high performance allowed for under-building parking, which
T he Chesapeake Bay defines the Philip Merrill
Environmental Center in nearly every way.
The view of the bay fills the 32,000-square-foot
also helped keep the building footprint small.
CBF has worked to reduce the building’s
building’s entire southern wall of windows, and impact after construction as well by promoting
the building was created to house the Chesapeake environmentally sound transport options such
Bay Foundation (CBF), a 35-year-old organization as walking, biking, and carpooling for the 100
dedicated to resource restoration and protection people who work there. CBF provides electric,
and environmental advocacy and education. CBF natural gas, and hybrid vehicles for errands,
works to reduce pollution, restore habitat, and and bike storage, showers, and lockers make it
replenish fish stocks in what is North America's possible for employees to bike, walk, or kayak
largest estuary. Chesapeake Bay is a seriously to work. Videoconferencing and a telecommut-
threatened ecosystem, having lost, according to ing policy also minimize transportation and its
the foundation, approximately 98% of its oysters, impact. CBF also arranges carpooling and has
90% of its underwater grasses, 60% of its wetlands, lunch delivered daily so employees don’t have
and 50% of its forests. Situated on 31 acres of to drive to get lunch. In addition, the green
shoreline, the entire site around the Philip Merrill features of the center — such as an open floor
Center is a restoration project. The building liter- plan — help the staff work together collabora-
ally connects CBF to the bay and is designed with tively. CBF uses the center as a teaching tool,
the specific intention of minimizing its effect on giving public tours of the building and opening
the bay. it up to use by outside groups.
The Merrill Center design shows an awareness,
not only of the building's link to the bay, but to
As visitors enter the Merrill Center from
the land. The building sits on the footprint of a
the north they can see high-performance
defunct beach club. Construction did not touch features, such as solar water heaters,
previously undisturbed portions of the site and operable and clerestory windows, and
maintained existing native landscaping, including rainwater cisterns. The building's south
mature hardwoods. Placing the building on piers wall, mostly glass, faces the bay.
High-performance features help the Energy
High
Summer Trellis blocks
Chesapeake Bay Foundation save the bay. Structurally insulated panels (SIPs) form the building envelope, using
less wood than conventional framing and resulting in a higher R-value.
Sun direct sunlight
Warm air escapes
A SIP consists of foam core 4 to 8 inches thick with faces consisting from automated
Chesapeake PV panels act dormer windows
A Simple, Healthy Design A “Less Is More” Interior Recycled Materials Bay of oriented strand board (OSB). as sunshades
Simple, natural approaches to building often On the interior, unfinished pressed wood Recycled materials in the building include Renewable energy sources provide approximately 30% of the building's
result in the healthiest and the most efficient fiberboard and the lack of finishes and galvanized steel siding, galvanized roofing, and energy load. Solar hot water heating provides all the domestic hot water
processes and designs. The shed roof of the fixtures reduces resource use and indoor air medium density fiberboard. Parallel strand for the building, saving approximately 120 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity Fresh cool air
Philip Merrill Center is a traditional indigenous pollutants. The building team's decision not to lumber, made from scrap wood that is normally per day. A 4 kWh photovoltaic system helps offset a portion of the building’s Open
form of architecture, historically visible along fill nail holes on interior finish wood, for offices
wasted, was used for posts, beams, and trusses. electrical load.
the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay. The shed example, saved $30,000. The designers capital- The sun louvers are made of salvaged pickle The Merrill Center uses a ground source heat pump system for heating
roof is particularly efficient for this building ized on the aesthetic effect of a raw looking barrel staves. Reused broken concrete from the and cooling. Forty-eight wells, each 300 feet deep, use the earth's constant
because it allows for easy collection of rainwa- interior, intentionally emphasizing the beauty previous structure covers the road beds. A temperature as a heat sink in the summer and a heat source in the winter. South windows accept indirect sunlight
to light building interior without heating it
ter and encourages an open interior design, of the unfinished look. They also chose majority of materials used for construction A desiccant dehumidifier and a heat recovery wheel on the
Mature native
both important components of this office natural renewable materials were produced within 300 miles hardwoods heat pump’s ventilation system also save energy.
space. Natural light, views, and fresh bay air such as cork flooring, bamboo of the construction site. A glazed wall of windows on the south con-
are never far from any desk or meeting room. flooring, and natural linoleum, tributes daylight and passive solar
Building occupants use operable windows eliminating the use of virgin heating. Light sensors
for natural ventilation. Sensors keep track of materials and petroleum-based automatically
outdoor temperatures and humidity and auto- materials. The building's beams dim lights when 2nd floor
matically shut down air conditioning and open are parallel strand lumber Vent to restrooms
daylighting is outdoors
motor-operated windows. Sensors also switch constructed from waste strong. The build-
on indicator signs throughout the building lumber strips. ing team created a
when conditions favor open windows. As the separate detached Inline fan 1st floor
provides
bay's breezes cool the building, it relies less on Diagonal 150-seat conference ventilation
restrooms
BUILDING T E C H N O L O G Y,
Photo Credits
S TAT E A N D C O M M U N I T Y P R O G R A M S
Produced for the U.S. Department of Robb Williamson, www.williamsonimages.com:
Energy by the National Renewable Energy Cover—PIX10884; Cover inset—PIX10888;
OFFICE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY Back—PIX10891; Back Inset—PIX10885
Laboratory, a DOE national laboratory
A N D R E N E WA B L E E N E R G Y
DOE/GO-102002-1533 Printed with a renewable-source ink on
paper containing at least 50% wastepaper,
April 2002 including 20% postconsumer waste