News
SPNHF French Wing Received LEED Gold Award
Owner: The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Concord, N.H.
Architect: Banwell Architects, Lebanon, N.H.
Consultant: Energysmiths, Meriden, N.H.
General Contractor: Bruss Construction, Inc., Bradford, N.H.
U.S. Green Building Council awarded the French Wing at The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests’ Conservation Center a Gold certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) program. Designed by Banwell Architects, the French Wing is the first project in New England to earn this certification. The French Wing is one of only a dozen buildings nationally to receive a Gold certification.
The Society for the Protection of NH Forests achieved a LEED™ Gold rating for the French Wing Addition to its Conservation Center in Concord, New Hampshire. This 11,400 square-foot wing was completed in April 2001 at a construction cost of $1.25 million. The Society for the Protection of NH Forests is a private, non-profit membership organization with programs in land protection, conservation, education, sustainable forestry and environmental policy. The Society is one of the oldest environmental organizations in the nation. Since 1901, the Society has helped protect over one million acres in the state of New Hampshire.
Banwell Architects was first asked to design a new headquarters and Conservation Center for the “Forest Society” in 1979 and has been invited back twice, 1990 and 1999, to design additions to the complex. In each phase, the mission has been to demonstrate New England forest products and to promote sustainable design principles through appropriate technologies. The initial project received the National Passive Solar Design Award in 1982, sponsored by the Department of Energy and the American Institute of Architects. In 2003, the French Wing addition received Gold certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) program of the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition to the national recognition, the French Wing received a Northeast Green Building Award in 2003 from the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, sharing top honors with a project in Maryland.
Since the 1970s, Banwell Architects has been exploring the possibilities of sustainable design, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, appropriate materials, and state-of-the-art technology. Stuart White, AIA, built a solar house for his family in 1975, and was recognized by a Vermont Chapter of American Institute of Architects Excellence in Architecture Award in 1999. White’s home was selected as one of the best Vermont projects in the past 50 years for “Excellence in Architecture.” White has also been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for Energy Innovations “For a Distinguished Contribution to the Nation’s Energy Efficiency.” More recently, in 2002, Banwell Architects received a design award from the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for another green building, the Dartmouth Skiway Lodge in Lyme, New Hampshire.
The French Wing addition to the Conservation Center is a timber-framed, three-story addition providing office space for 26 people, as well as meeting rooms, a two-story atrium, and a fully-functioning kitchen featuring efficient “Energy Star” rated appliances. The French Wing incorporates the latest technologies in energy efficiency and water conservation, uses green-certified wood, and has an enhanced indoor air quality. The addition uses 60 percent less energy and 90 percent less water than a conventional new building. However, the cost of construction was $110 a square-foot, which is comparable to typical new office construction. The French Wing was built with a $1 million donation from the French family of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, a $300,000 Kresge Foundation grant and numerous private donations.
Initially the building was designed to meet the specifications for LEED Silver level certification, however, based on the coordination of efforts of the Forest Society, Banwell Architects, consultant Marc Rosenbaum from Energysmiths of Meriden, N.H. and contractor Bruss Construction of Bradford, N.H., the building received LEED Gold recognition.
“This was a team effort at all levels from beginning to end,” emphasized Stuart White from Banwell Architects. “The Society and project manager Paul Leveille, environmental consultant Marc Rosenbaum, builder Michael Bruss and many others worked together to achieve the goal: to showcase New Hampshire forest products while creating an energy conserving, environmentally responsible building.”
The centerpiece of the “green” design is a two-story atrium lit by skylights and a south-facing clerestory. There is no need for electric lighting during daylight hours. Energy savings have been achieved with motion sensing lights, well-insulated airtight walls, and an air-to-air heat exchanger. An on-site wood chip “gasification” plant converts discarded wood chips into combustible gas to generate heat. A parking configuration was designed so non-polluting electric cars can recharge.
The building has been recognized for water conservation through odor-free, indoor composting toilets and “gray water” filtering and reuse. “Gray water” is collected, filtered, and pumped to plants in the atrium. The plants both purify the air and continue to treat the water, so no leach field was required on the site.
Materials with high post consumer content were used for the construction including floor tiles from recycled glass and linoleum made from renewable, natural sources. Natural canola oil was used instead of traditional hydraulic fluid in the elevator. Fifty-three percent of the forest products in the building are green-certified with the remainder from local, well managed forests.The timber frame was constructed from trees cut on the building site using an on-site sawmill for a zero transportation cost. Ninety percent of the construction waste was recycled.
For additional information, contact:
Stuart White, AIA, Banwell Architects in Lebanon, New Hampshire, 603-448-3778.
Paul Leveille, Director, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests in Concord, New Hampshire, 603-224-9945.
SPNHF French Wing Project Page
LEED Award Background Information
