uploaded to flickr.com by dbking
There’s been much discussion on THIH about the Hill Center—the reincarnation of the historic Naval Hospital on Pennsylvania Avenue SE. The facility is scheduled to reopen in 2011 after a major renovation and restoration that included modernization of building systems and “greening” the building through design and construction. Designed by DC firm Bell Architects, the project is anticipating LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and employs some innovative ecological design strategies for achieving this goal.
According to David Bell of Bell Architects, almost 100% of the original building exterior was saved and reused. About 75% of the building interior was reused as well, reducing the amount of new resources needed in construction. The reuse of the existing building components also helped keep the renovation historically accurate.
The Hill Center will use a geothermal heating and cooling system, which is a system of underground wells in which liquid circulates through pipes. This liquid uses the consistent temperature of the earth to heat the liquid in the winter and cool it in the summer. The liquid is then circulated through the building similar to how hot water or steam is circulated through a household radiator heating system. The geothermal system uses no fossil fuels to keep it running, eliminating carbon-based pollution. The system for the Hill Center includes 32 underground wells each reaching a depth of 350 feet. As Bell noted, the geothermal system “allowed us to avoid a large cooling tower and a boiler, thereby eliminating equipment on the roof or grounds and using the earth as a heat sink for significant energy savings.”
Many other green site and building strategies are being implemented on the Hill Center project, including rain gardens that will naturally filter storm water, energy efficient lighting and low-flow plumbing fixtures, and new materials high in recycled content.
The Hill Center project will hopefully be a valued addition to our neighborhood, and the design appears to be a model of adaptive reuse and sustainable design that is historically sensitive and environmentally responsible. Public “hard hat tours” are available at 4:30 p.m. two or three times a week during construction so you can see the renovations and new technologies firsthand. More information can be found at http://www.hillcenterdc.org/.
what a great model for development going forward!
So that explains the digging out by the coach house/future cafe.
Thanks…this is the kind of info I like on THIH 🙂
This project is SO forward looking and smart.
I have very high hopes for the completed project. It could be a real jewel for the Hill
So, what is it costing and will any of this save on operating expenses?
I don’t have cost information but will see what I can find out. I can tell you the intent of a goethermal system is to reduce or eliminate the use of electricity or oil/gas for heating and cooling purposes, which lowers utility costs. Energy efficient lighting and water-efficient plumbing fixtures reduce those respective utilities as well. If the project is targeting LEED certification there’s a good chance the water use will be reduced 20% or more over a similarly sized project.
Much easier to raise capital funds up front than down the line when things need to be replaced. I remember the enormous expenses my comparably sized condo building incurred on utilities.
I also like the contrast between Hill Center and the Capitol power plant down the street, which burns coal and spews soot into our air for the gratification of a few congressional reps from coal producing states.