SDC Projects

Heimbold Visual Arts Center, Sarah Lawrence College

2005 AIA Award Winner: Design and Sustainability

This 60,000 square foot building distinctively designed by the renowned Polshek Partnership will set a tone of environmental performance and consciousness at a focal point on the bucolic Sarah Lawrence campus in southern Westchester County. The process included a "green" charrette facilitated by SDC's Bill Bobenhausen organized around application of the LEED™ System.

Particular attention was paid to designing a building with good air quality. Other major design focuses of the building are the use of sun-controlled daylight for various gallery and public circulation spaces. A geothermal heating/cooling system will provide excellent operational efficiency while also eliminating the need for above ground exterior heat rejection equipment (e.g., cooling towers) that would have produced noise and potentially objectionable discharges near neighboring residences.

A Silver LEED™ Rating is anticipated for the now complete project. Architect: Polshek Partnership Architects.

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 project is in the process of receiving formal LEED™ certification. 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.

American Institute of Architects (AIA) Headquarters, New York, NY

William Bobenhausen, FAIA has proudly assisted the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in developing the design for it's new headquarters on LaGuardia Place in New York's Greenwich Village. The building is now known as the Center for Architecture. The design for the renovated building was developed by Andrew Berman Architects upon his selection through a design competition that was judged by a distinguished jury.

The image shown on the left was developed from composite photographs viewed from the ground floor southeast-facing street frontage for the Center for Architecture. Superimposed on the photograph are the sun positions throughout the year. With the aid of this study, project-specific daylighting and sun-control design strategies were incorporated into the now actively used Center.

New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability

SDC was retained by NJHEPS to develop Guidelines to assist in the selection of construction materials for a wide range of university projects. The Guidelines are organized along the lines of the Uniform Construction Index and CSI's 3-part section format.

The Guidelines will also cross-reference the credits contained in the LEED™ Green Building Rating System. Each Division highlights the key environmental design factors that pertain to that category of construction and also gives specific guidance as to the pros and cons of utilizing a wide range of materials for specific applications.

The New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS) is a consortium of 37 New Jersey higher education institutions that is housed at the NJIT Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization associated with NJHEPS' host institution, the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The mission of NJHEPS is to transform the higher education community to consistently practice sustainability and to more effectively contribute to the world's emerging understanding of sustainability, through teaching, research, outreach, operations, and community life.

Mount Hope Community Center

The Mount Hope Community Center will rise on an abandoned lot on E. 175th St., between Townsend and Walton Avenues. The Mount Hope Community Center will centralize not only recreational and cultural facilities, but also a broad array of Mount Hope community services.

A hugely exciting aspect to the project, one of the first in the Bronx, is that the Center will be an example of sustainable design. It will be energy efficient, environmentally sensitive and economically prudent. As illustrated, one of the principal design strategies investigated for the gymnasium/multi-purpose room is the sun-controlled use of natural daylight.

Human comfort is prioritized by attention to air quality and abundant natural light, gardens and green spaces. SDC is assisting the design by conducting computer modeling of daylighting alternatives.

Architect: The Croxton Collaborative.

Ramapo Sustainability Center, Mahwah, New Jersey

This approximately 5,000 square foot building will serve as both an environmental education center and classroom building. Design features include the use of sun-controlled daylight and natural ventilation. Environmentally-preferable materials have been carefully selected for durability, recycled content, local manufacture, and positive impact upon indoor air quality.

Energy use for ventilation air will be reduced through the use of a heat recovery ventilator. The building will be sited in a carefully landscaped setting of local and sustainable plantings and will include an extensive "green" roof.

Architect: Stephen Tilly Architects.

Rating Systems for Sustainability

The process of designing sustainable buildings often utilizes the LEED™ Green Building Rating System developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide a framework for decision-making. LEED™ awards credits in the following topic areas:

• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy and Atmosphere
• Material and Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

• Sam's Point Environmental Center, The Nature Conservancy, Cragmore, NY
• NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Headquarters, Albany, NY
• NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation Regional Office, New Paltz, NY
• New Heart Institute, NY Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
• Midwood High School Science Building, Brooklyn, NY
• Masters School Science Building, Dobbs Ferry, NY
• Kensington Branch Library, Brooklyn, NY
• Hillview Reservoir, NYC DEP, Yonkers, NY
• Heimbold Visual Arts Center, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
• Ramapo Sustainability Center, Mahwah, NJ
• Essex County Environmental Center, Roseland, NJ
• Downstate Medical Center, Health Science Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Volunteers of America Headquarters, Valhalla, NY
• Neptune K-12 School, Neptune, NJ
• Friends Seminary School, New York, NY

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 center to focus on Church, Olana, and the Hudson River School of Art.

NYSERDA (NYS Energy Research & Development Authority)

SDC serves NYSERDA under both the New Construction Program and FlexTech Program. Current projects include: the Mount Hope Community Center (Bronx, New York); New Heart Institute, Presbyterian New York Hospital (New York, New York); and the Clifton Park Library (Clifton Park, New York). Services include daylighting design, materials analysis, specification advice, and guidance on the LEED™ Green Building Rating System.

Kensington Library, Brooklyn, New York

The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) design goal for the Kensington Branch is that it be a "state-of-the-art" facility that maximizes thermal and visual comfort, convenience, and the well-being of staff and library goers while functioning in part as an environmental educational center. As such, its construction materials and mechanical systems should promote good air quality indoors and outdoors through reduced or eliminated emissions.

William Bobenhausen, FAIA, directed all environmental design aspects of the project. Services began even prior to the selection of a project architect with the establishment of energy and environmental performance goals for the project. Energy performance goals included: Energy consumption (measured in BTUs per square foot per year) a minimum of 30% lower than for conventional current practice.

The major theme of the building is to utilize natural light. Sen Architects is the designer with A.G. Consulting Engineering serving as the project engineer. A standing column type geothermal heat pump system will satisfy the relatively small heating and cooling loads of the building. More Info...

Mart Library and Computer Center, Lehigh University

The Mart Library is an 80,000 square foot wing that includes reading areas, library stacks, and a computer center. The connecting atrium is a major focus for the campus.

The original Mart Library consumes over 250,000 BTU/sf/yr. The heavily occupied addition was designed to consume only about one-sixth of that amount. Stretched along an east-west axis, the library wing is only 55 feet wide allowing for abundant daylighting. The south façade is articulated in horizontal bands of well-insulated wall, windows for vision and light, projecting overhangs to control solar gain and to direct daylight deeper into the stacks. More Info...

Architect: Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde

East Side High School, Newark

East Side High School will be centrally located within the vital Ironbound section of Newark. It will be a new 1,200 student, $60 million high school that will serve not only as a pace-setting educational facility, but also as a focus for evening and weekend community activities. The design of the school will adapt the existing structure of a low-rise industrial building. Reuse of a significant portion of existing structure is a vital ingredient for "green" design and is so recognized under the LEED™ green building rating system.

Through Executive Order 24, New Jersey has established a minimum environmental design standard equivalent to a LEED™ Certified Rating. The environmental planning process included a charrette held at the existing school where the LEED™ green building rating system was used for goal setting by not only the design team but also the school's faculty.

A major portion of the project will also include adaptive reuse of two long-dormant, but architecturally significant buildings.

Architect: Ehrenkrantz Ekstut & Kuhn.

Volunteers of America

The Volunteers of America (of Westchester County) will be moving into a newly renovated building on the campus of Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York. The design work involves a gut rehab of the existing 40,000 square foot building which dates from early in the twentieth century. The design is by Stephen Tilly - Architects, with environmental design consultation including a LEED™ Green Rating System evaluation provided by SDC. The mechanical and structural engineer was O'Dea Lynch Abbattista. Key design strategies include the use of green materials, attention to indoor air quality, and the use of daylight.

The Volunteers of America is a national, nonprofit, spiritually-based organization providing local human service programs and opportunities for individual and community involvement. From rural America to inner-city neighborhoods, Volunteers of America provides outreach programs that deal with today's most pressing social needs.

Volunteers of America helps youths at risk, frail elderly, abused and neglected children, people with disabilities, homeless individuals and many others.

The Center at Maple Grove, Kew Gardens, New York

The Center at Maple Grove will be a 30,000 square foot building to serve spiritual and ceremonial purposes while also serving the community for serene musical events. Construction began in November of 2004. A silver LEED™ rating is anticipated. One of the major design strategies will be the use of a geothermal (ground-source) heat pump system.

Environmentally-preferable materials will be used including the use of Brazilian Cherry FSC certified flooring in major public spaces.

Maple Grove Cemetery opened in 1875 as an alternative to the overcrowded Prospect Cemetery in Jamaica (opened 1668). Located on one of the highest elevations in Queens, Maple Grove was said to have beautiful views of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean - views which have since been obscured by the area's commercial and residential development.

Architect: Peter Gisolfi Associates. HVAC Engineer: OLA.

Essex County Environmental Center, Roseland, NJ

This project is now in schematic design. The building will be raised structurally so that the first floor is above the 100-year flood plain for this site along the Passaic River. Design began with a charrette which included a preliminary LEED™ evaluation and established a design goal of LEED™ Silver.

Design strategies for the building will include abundant use of daylight, the probable use of salvaged wood timbers and siding, selection of other building materials for their environmentally-preferable characteristics, and use of an integrated geothermal heating/cooling system.

An accessible "green roof" will adorn the building with plant materials carefully selected and maintained by the gardening staff of the Center. Shown is an existing building on the site that will be renovated.

Architect/Engineer: Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.