Sam's Point, Dwarf Pine Ridge Preserve, NY

2005 AIA Award Winner: Design and Sustainability

SDC consulted with Matthew Bialecki Architects of New Paltz, NY on the design of this new headquarters building for this division of The Nature Conservancy.

Great care was given to the design of a building that would be particularly energy conserving while utilizing natural daylight.

Construction materials were selected for their environmentally-preferable qualities including recycled content and local origin.

The preserve contains the best example of a ridge-top dwarf pine barrens in the world. It is part of the 90,000-acre Northern Shawangunk Mountains, whose cliffs, summits and plateaus form a unique landscape of extraordinary ecological significance.

Home to nearly 40 rare plants and animals and three rare natural communities, the Northern Shawangunks represent one of the highest priorities for conservation in the northeastern United States.

Other consultants involved in the project include Donald Watson, FAIA, as concept planner and exhibit designer and O'Dea Lynch Abbattista as mechanical/structural consultant.

The project was LEED-NC Certified in 2006.

Burnet Park Zoo, Syracuse, NY
Hillier Group, William Reed

William Bobenhausen, FAIA, directed technical assistance including detailed computer modeling for daylighting of the new buildings of the Burnet Park Zoo in Syracuse, New York for NYSERDA and SWA. The Hillier Group of Washington DC, represented by William Reed, was the project architect.

A goal of the daylighting analysis was to reduce energy consumption while also assuring visual comfort. Using this analysis, the project team selected window and skylight geometries, as well as glazing materials that allow rich illumination by natural light year round and passive solar heating in winter, while avoiding excessive solar heat gain and associated cooling loads in summer.

Glare proved a special challenge with the building's design, and strategies had to be developed to minimize it Light levels and visual appearance of the new Entrance Lobby were modeled using RADIANCE software. Images of the space were generated at various times of day and year, for both clear-sky and overcast conditions, and the light levels within the space were calculated as well.

Heating, cooling and lighting costs were estimated for different fenestration options using Energy-10 software. In the other areas of the building, overall lighting energy costs could be reduced by 40 - 70% through the use of conventional and cylindrical skylights.

Work was supported in part through the New York State Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) FlexTech Assistance program.

Olana State Historic Site, Hudson, New York

Sustainable Design Collaborative is facilitating a process to utilize the LEED Green Building Rating System as a goal-setting tool for a new Visitor's Center at the Olana State Historic Site. This work is being conducted for the Olana Partnership in concert with Donald Watson, FAIA and with input from the NYS Department of Parks. The Partnership's mission is to advocate and support the preservation and enhancement of Olana and its integral viewshed, to sponsor educational programs, and to foster scholarly research on the artist Frederic Edwin Church and his property. A comprehensive plan for Olana includes full restoration of the existing house, grounds and collection, and the building of a new museum/visitor enter to focus on Church, Olana, and the Hudson River School of Art.