The Building Team behind Building Design+Construction’s GreenZone demonstration project—the Parks & People Green Workforce Development Center—was on hand at Greenbuild to offer a behind-the-scenes tour of the ultra-green modular structure.
Keith Peiffer, AIA, Associate with Ziger/Snead Architects, the project’s design architect, and Brad Gudeman, Business Development Partner with Modular Genius, the project’s builder, joined BD+C staff members and sponsor representatives in walking Greenbuild attendees through the 588-sf structure. More than 1,200 AEC professionals toured the GreenZone project during the show, which took place November 18-20 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
“It always feels great to complete a project, but exhibiting the Green Workforce Development Center at Greenbuild was particularly exciting,” said Peiffer. “The building initiated conversations among AEC professionals, product manufacturers, and students around sustainable building practices, the merits of modular construction, and the important work that the Parks and People Foundation is doing in Baltimore City.”
PROJECT SUMMARY
Parks & People Green Workforce Development Center, Baltimore, Md.
Exhibited at Greenbuild 2015, Washington, D.C.BUILDING TEAM
Owner: Parks & People Foundation
Owner’s representative and site work coordinator: Synthesis
Architects: Ziger/Snead Architects, Morgan State University
Lighting designer: Flux Studio
Builders: Modular Genius,
Mark Line IndustriesGENERAL INFORMATION
Size: 588 gsf plus deck
Construction time: August 2015 to November 2015SPONSORS
Access Lighting
Chicago Faucets
Dow Corning Corporation
LaCantina Doors
LG / HVAC
MechoSystems
Modular Building Institute (MBI)
nora systems, Inc.
Valspar
Zola Windows
Following the show, the Green Workforce Development Center was trucked 39 miles to Baltimore, where it awaits placement in its final destination, on the site of the new headquarters for the Parks & People Foundation at the southern edge of the city’s Druid Hill Park. There, it will be harmonized with the existing buildings to form a cohesive urban campus for Parks & People, a 30-year-old nonprofit community organization whose mission includes promoting a healthy natural environment for Baltimore.
The site also includes two restored 19th century stone structures and a new energy-efficient, 10,000-sf office building—designed by Ziger/Snead—pursuing LEED Platinum certification.
The Green Workforce Development Center will provide flexible educational space for workshops, training programs, and community activities that further the mission of the People & Parks Foundation. Expected to operate 14 to 16 hours a day, the center will support several of the nonprofit organization’s most active programs.
These include BRANCHES, which provides year-round green job training for Baltimore youth ages 14 to 21; the Community Greening Resource Network (CGRN) program for community gardeners; and Chesapeake Trees & Landscape, a for-profit landscaping and forestry service administered by Parks & People. The entire campus will support the numerous partnerships that Parks & People maintains with public and private organizations to implement and sustain its programs. It’s also designed to empower citizens to take on community projects that matter to them.
GreenZone: A peek behind the curtain
At the Greenbuild show, the structure was set up to allow guests to learn more about the installed products and systems, many of which were donated by the project’s 10 sponsor companies (see list on page 55). A portion of the building’s rainscreen façade was left exposed near the main entrance so attendees could view the building envelope assembly, and live demonstrations were offered for the center’s automated shade-control systems, bi-fold doors, variable refrigerant flow HVAC system, and advanced paints and coatings.
Using the LEED rating system as a framework, the Building Team implemented a number of sustainability strategies on the project: a rainscreen building envelope over structural insulated panels; a rainwater collection system featuring an oversized gutter and storage tank, which will irrigate nearby modular micro-farms and serve as a teaching tool; a high albedo roof surface; clerestory windows that aid daylighting and natural ventilation; a light shelf; use of reclaimed and rapidly renewable finish materials; and low-flow fixtures and energy-efficient appliances.
For more on the Parks & People Green Workforce Development Center, visit: www.BDCnetwork.com/greenzone2015/.
To meet the long-term needs of Parks & People, the Green Workforce Development Center was designed with a durable, energy-efficient envelope consisting of a rainscreen system over structural insulated panels.
Among the industry professionals to tour the GreenZone structure were representatives from Energy Star. BD+C’s Events Director Harry Urban (at right) talks with: Rose Stephens-Booker, Energy Star Appliances and Consumer Electronics Program Manager (grey dress); Dan Cronin, Energy Star Lighting Marketing Lead (middle, light-blue sport jacket); and Peter Banwell, Director, Product Marketing at Energy Star (striped shirt).
Keith Peiffer, AIA, Associate with Ziger/Snead Architects (left), the project’s design architect, and Brad Gudeman, Business Development Partner with Modular Genius, the project’s builder, were on hand at Greenbuild to offer attendees tours of the Parks & People Green Workforce Development Center.
Steven Preston, Capital Improvements Project Manager with the Parks & People Foundation (at right) and JoAnn Trach Tongson, PLA, LEED AP BD+C, Associate Principal with Mahan Rykiel Associates, talk with BD+C’s Executive Editor Robert Cassidy (far left) and Events Director Harry Urban.
The building features a host of amenities, including a restroom, lockers and cabinets for storage, kitchenette, washroom for lab experiments, workstations, and meeting room. Once on site in Baltimore, it will be fitted with a large deck.
To support the Parks & People Foundation’s program and volunteer activities and provide a link between the indoor and outdoor spaces, the Green Workforce Development Center was fitted with three large entrances, two in the front and one in the back.
MechoSystems’ Marketing Manager William Maiman walks an attendee through the building’s automated shade-control system. MechoSystems was one of 16 building product manufacturers, industry organizations, and AEC firms to participate in the planning, design, and construction of the modular structure.
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