A Living, Breathing Inspiration
Brock Environmental Center reminds community why it’s important to conserve natural resources
By Kate Cerone
Photos: Dave Chance Photography and WPL
Finding the ideal site to construct a “living building” was no easy task. In 2001, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) opened the Philip Merrill Environmental Center in Annapolis, Md., to educate the public about the importance of being good stewards of the Chesapeake Bay and the many wonders it holds, including critical species of fish, crabs, and oysters the region relies on. The CBF’s special history of conservation and environmental consciousness is a fitting background as Merrill Center became the first building in the world to receive the U.S. Green Building Council's Platinum rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and the center continues to minimally impact its surrounding site. After construction of its successful headquarters in Maryland, the foundation envisioned a second location to involve and educate the bay’s community with environmental programs and a public meeting space in the Hampton Roads region, where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic.
On A Mission
CBF’s vision was a site that could house a net-zero energy building, where the total sum of energy used on an annual basis is approximately equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site, while also conforming to the high environmental standards associated with the Living Building Challenge (LBC). After careful consideration, the undeveloped Pleasure House Point (PHP) property, consisting of 118 acres located west of the Lesner Bridge and south of the Chesapeake Bay, was purchased by CBF and the city of Virginia Beach in a joint effort to preserve the open space and the surrounding environment. With these goals in mind, the design team embarked on a highly iterative and consolidative process to meet the standards for LEED Platinum and the LBC. The team toured other LBC sites to formulate a shared vision for the project, which later became known as the Brock Environmental Center (BEC).
The project team aimed to achieve net-zero energy, net-zero water, and net-zero waste, which required a significant amount of research and preparation. LBC standards, called petals, include place, health and happiness, materials, equity, and beauty. To meet the challenges of the LBC materials petal, a “green” charrette, comprised of all design disciplines, local officials, community representatives, and subject-matter experts from the LBC/LEED field, was held on-site during the schematic-design phase. The client, architect, and contractor, as well as interns from local schools, developed shared online tools and formalized methodologies for construction-material vetting. The team partnered with the Center for Wind Energy at James Madison University to optimize the turbine design and with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services to ensure a bird-safe solution. Conversations with regulatory agencies began during early design and spanned throughout construction, enabling the project to maximize the use of rainwater for portable uses. The MEP and Building Enclosure Commissioning team were also engaged from early design throughout construction.
Coming Together
Community involvement was integral to the project’s success. CBF and the consultant team worked with the city of Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department to launch a 40-member stakeholder committee for the Pleasure House Point property. The committee was comprised of city council members, planning commissioners, civil league leaders, adjacent property owners, parks and recreation staff members, CBF staff members, and design consultants. This group met frequently during the planning process for briefs on the progress of the master plan for Pleasure House Point, as well as the site planning for BEC. And, in turn, the stakeholder committee briefed the public and community at-large on the progress of the project. Acceptance of the project was due in large part to the open communication between the design team, stakeholder committee, and the general public.
Planning For The Elements
Finding the best building location was extremely important to CBF, given the data on sea-level rise in order to have a resilient building. Not only was the site designed to minimize land disturbances, but it was also designed to withstand a 500-year storm-surge and a 100-year flood plain by incorporating a 200-foot setback from the shore and elevating the building 14 feet above sea level. Site analysis included an investigation of the ecological function of the site, emphasizing its potential to filter stormwater from beyond its own boundary.
Incorporating innovative rainwater-management solutions, the center’s water supply comes directly from the site’s rainwater after being filtered and disinfected, providing the total water supply for the building and for visitors. Excess rainwater and greywater are directed into a raingarden. Natural landscaping absorbs rainfall and allows flood waters to evenly spread and recede naturally. Other than three ADA spaces, there is no formal parking on site. On-street parking is provided for visitors along the Winston Place public right-of-way that leads to the CBF site. All hardscape is composed of permeable pavers and gravel, with adjacent raingardens and bio-swales to treat runoff. Uniquely, Winston Place, which leads up to the center, is the first street approved by the city that was designed and built with permeable pavers with zero-drainage pipes. The energy power on site is generated by 168 solar panels on the roof, as well as two iconic, residential wind turbines that stand 80 feet tall. After four years of being in business, the center creates all its own electricity, and even has a 40- to 50-percent surplus that can be supplied to the electrical grid.
The 10,500-square-foot, low-profile building’s exterior materials and colors are taken from the existing natural colors, such as shades of blonde, warm browns, and light warm grays, found on Pleasure House Point. Whenever possible, natural materials from the Southeast region of the United States were selected to reinforce a local sense-of-place and biophilic goals, while reducing chemical constituents. Salvaged building products were used extensively and celebrated within the design, and material palettes referenced the colors and textures of the site. Old bleachers from a middle school were salvaged and used within the interior of the building. Zinc shingles and thick, galvanized-coated steel resist corrosion from salt-spray. Old growth, heart-cypress siding was selected for its natural ability to resist rot. The windows can resist 120 mph, hurricane-force winds and wind-borne debris.
A Welcome Addition
As the world’s 10th living building, the Brock Environmental Center is an awe-inspiring architectural and engineering wonder. The mixed-use facility holds office space, meeting rooms, and event/education space. The BEC has committed to exciting developments involving an expansion based on the high demand for environmental education programs. The center has partnered with Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) to add a sustainable classroom addition to the building. This addition will house the VBCPS Environmental Studies Program, providing additional meeting space for CBF, while also creating a one-of-a-kind learning space that will be a model for education across the U.S. The classroom addition is currently in the conceptual design phase and is slated to open in the fall of 2020.
Impacted by six states and fed by 50 major tributaries that funnel down to the ocean through a 64,000-square-mile watershed, the Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the country. This site, BEC, and the mission are imperative in restoring and protecting the bay. BEC is a living building that brings people together in hopes of continued environmental conservation of one of the nation’s best natural resources in order to help “Save the Bay.”
Kate Cerone is the Marketing Director for WPL, a landscape architecture, land surveying, and civil engineering firm in Virginia Beach, Va. Reach her at kate@wplsite.com.