The Desert Living Center (DLC) & Gardens at the Springs Preserve embodies ED+C’s Excellence in Design Awards based on the project’s contribution and commitment to sustainability through its demonstrated energy-efficiency approach in the use of natural ventilation and cooling towers; its concern for indoor air quality and water conservation; and the innovative use of recycled, reused native materials and resources, as well as its dedication to educating the public on these principals.

Awards judge Frank Sherman said, “This building speaks strongly about place and about its relationship to the environmental forces that shape and define place. The extensive use of appropriate technology and materials give it a contemporary vernacular quality that is striking.”

The desert living center used rice straw bales, an agriculture waste product, for two of the five buildings on site. the straw is an outstanding insulator minimizing the heat load on the building and reducing the amount of wood framing needed. Photo by lucchesi galati.

Located in Las Vegas, the DLC is an interactive-based public outreach and applied research facility designed to promote sustainable living within the Mojave Desert. The $49 million facility sits on the 180-acre Springs Preserve campus; the center and surrounding eight acres of botanical gardens create a unique sense of place while serving as a catalyst for community change from being “in the desert” to being “of the desert.”  Consisting of five main buildings and a series of small auxiliary structures integrated into the landscape and functioning as full-scale sustainable exhibits, each building has different sustainable characteristics to experiment with the effectiveness of each design principle. The site is powered by a 400-kW photovoltaic system that covers visitor parking and provides approximately 70 percent of the electricity to the site.

North elevation of the design lab building. Interpretive exhibit at the roof demonstrating air being exhausted throughout the operable windows to facilitate passive cooling. Photo by Opulence Studios.

Buildings and gardens work together with numerous education programs and varied interpretive experiences. Two galleries focused on sustainable education and life in the desert are supported with four classrooms, a dialogue center, library/research center, and a design lab/technical training studio offering a core of a compelling experiences aimed at helping people make intelligent choices.

More than 400 mature trees and plants were transplanted from a neighboring facility. Many of the native plants on display were grown from seed collected in the valley, making the plants genetically better adapted to the harsh climate. Almost all of the native cacti species were salvaged from local lands that were to be developed. The gardens’ centerpiece is a constructed wetland (engineered wastewater treatment system) that treats all grey/black water on campus. All of the treated wastewater is reused within building toilets, and excess is used to irrigate landscaping.

Additional Sustainable Strategies

Constructed of rammed earth, The design lab building is passively heated and cooled with no mechanical systems. Photo by Opulence Studios.

Sustainable strategies were grounded in utilizing timeless design approaches to define place as well as to allow for flexibility to meet the future needs of the people: owner, visitors and community. All surfaces — including concrete, rammed earth, FSC-certified wood, stucco and rusted steel — blend to create a palette of desert hues. Solar orientation optimizes the benefits of the sun as a lighting and heating source. Submerging the structures below grade utilizes the earth as a thermal insulator. Above grade, massive walls and deep openings assist in protecting heat gain and loss. The buildings’ massive walls are constructed from straw bales with stucco or rammed earth. These wall types use cost-effective local products to create superior performing building membranes. Overhangs protect the buildings from solar heat gain while allowing the winter sun to warm interior spaces.

The DLC anticipates a LEED Platinum certification.


For more information, see ED+C’s March 2008 feature “Educational Wellspring.” Information was provided by Lucchesi Galati.

Sidebar: Desert Living Center & Gardens at the Springs Preserve

ID Award Category: Institutional

Size: 54,000 square feet

Location: Las Vegas

Submitted by: Lucchesi Galati

Congratulations to:

Owner: Las Vegas Valley Water District / Springs Preserve

Design Professionals:

Lucchesi Galati (architecture)

AldrichPears Associates (exhibits)

Stantec Consulting Engineers Inc. (structural)

Paladino & Company (LEED certification)

Harris Consulting Engineers (mechanical, electrical, plumbing)

Deneen Powell Atelier (landscape)

Natural Systems International (living system)

Ensar Group (daylighting)

Clanton & Associates (lighting)

Keen Engineering Company (sustainable MEP)

ESG Construction Consultants (cost estimating)

Parametrix (cost estimating)

PBS&J (civil infrastructure)

Ninyo & Moore (geotechnical)

BBI (audio/visual)

General Contractor: J.A. Tiberti Construction Company/The Whiting-Turner    Contracting Company, Joint Venture.

Construction Subcontractors: US Mechanical (mechanical), Helix Electric    (electrical), Desert Plumbing and Heating (plumbing), VT (earthwork),    ValleyCrest (landscaping), SME (steel), Southwest Steel (steel), Sunrise    (underground utilities), J.A. Tiberti Construction Company (concrete), The    Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (concrete), Benchmark Development    (straw bale and rammed earth), Century Steel (reinforcement steel).

Materials

Flooring: Interface carpet tile; finished sealed concrete, WE Cork cork tiles; Smith & Fong bamboo.

Ceiling: Exposed to structure; USG ceiling tiles.

Wood: FSC glu-lam beams; Trestlewood reclaimed beams.

Roofing: Berridge Manufacturing Company standing seam metal roof;    Carlisle Sure-Weld TPO.

HVAC System and Appliances: United Metals Products, air washer, passive evaporative cooling towers; Wirsbo solar thermal radiant heating; De Champs air handler units with direct exchange and incorporated chillers; Solaraide storage water heater tank.

Insulation: Bonded Logic Ultra Touch cotton insulation, Johns Manville polyiso roof insulation.

Interior Finishes and Furnishings: Exposed rammed earth; exposed plaster over straw bale; DesignTex fabrics, Herman Miller furnishings; PaperStone countertops; Plyboo casework; Alkemi solid surface countertops.

Paints and Wallcoverings: Dunn Edwards and Frazee low-/no-VOC paint; WE Cork cork tile.

Energy Efficiency: SunEarth Inc. Imperial Series flat plate solar collector.

Building Envelope: Rammed earth, straw bale, integral colored concrete with fly ash; Arcadia T500 aluminum curtain wall; PPG Solarban 70 glazing; Lanai Doors aluminum bi-folding doors.

Plumbing Fixtures: Kohler toilets; Waterless Co. Sonora urinals; American Standard lavatories; Sloan Optima Systems battery-powered sensor faucet.

Landscaping: Trex Company Inc., Trex Origins Decking; Soil Stabilization Products Company, Inc. NaturalPAVE XL resin pavement; Coolaroo Shade Sails.

Other: Constructed wastewater treatment system/wetlands; Clearline Inc. motorized control system for automated windows.

Institutional Building Category: ED+C’s 2008 Excellence in Design Award Finalists

The Wild Center, Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks

Completion Date: August 2007

Size: 54,000 square feet

Location: Tupper Lake, N.Y.

Submitted by: HOK

Demonstrating environmental stewardship through innovation, the Wild Center, Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, became the first LEED-certified museum in the state of New York, and its sustainable design story will be featured as an interpretive exhibit. The 32-acre site had previously consisted of an open-cut sand quarry, enabling the team to minimize disturbance of the existing natural habitat. One-third of the parking lot is paved with porous concrete blocks to reduce stormwater runoff. A three-acre pond provides a backdrop to the building and creates an indigenous wetland that attracts birds, amphibians, small mammals and insects. Fifteen percent of the museum’s power comes from a 40-kW photovoltaic array on the roof of the Bio Building, and an additional 70 percent is offset through the purchase of green power and generated by the Niagara Falls.

Water + Life Museums Campus

Completion Date: January 2007

Size: 65,000 square feet

Location: Hemet, Calif.

Submitted by: Taylor & Company

Two museums — The Center for Water Education and Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology — are striking mélanges of metal and glass at the eastern entrance to Diamond Valley Lake. The project, by Lehrer + Gangi Design Build, is set on 23 acres donated by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California. The water museum’s educational components encourage water conservation. The museum campus was built to achieve LEED Platinum certification, and is currently awaiting results. The rooftop photovoltaic installation generates energy for 68 percent of the museum space. Low-emitting, locally available and recycled-content materials, along with FSC-certified wood, were selected. Materials and interior fixtures were specified for their durability and sustainability. Ninety-five percent of the construction waste was recycled.

Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas/Seton Healthcare Network

Completion Date: July 2007

Size: 473,000 square feet

Location: Austin, Texas

Submitted by: Karlsberger

The new Dell Children’s Medical Center sits on a 32-acre parcel of land that is part of an overall 700-acre brownfield site, designed as the first hospital in the world to achieve LEED Platinum certification. An efficient on-site Combine Heating Power Plan creates steam as a waste by-product that is captured and used for heating and to create chilled water for the hospital through an absorption chiller process. The inclusion of six courtyards, representing the six ecosystems found within central Texas, provide natural light everywhere within 32 feet of an exterior wall and serve as the “lungs” of the building. Approximately 47,000 tons of existing runway asphalt and base material was recycled and re-used on the site. The building is made out of 41 percent fly ash, and the use of paints, flooring materials and adhesives with low or no volatile organic content greatly improves indoor air quality and allows for simple soap and water clean-up. Also see ED+C’s cover story, August 2008.

Sidebar: Honorable Mentions

Honorable Mentions in the Institutional/Non-profit/Healthcare category included:

• Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center/Blue Ridge Parkway, The National Park Service, Lord, Aeck & Sargent
• Boston Children’s Museum, Shawmut Design and Construction
• Mercy Housing Lakefront - Margot and Harold Schiff Residences, Murphy/Jahn; Metro Health Hospital, HDR Architectre Inc.; Redding Library, LPA, Inc.; and
• Snowmass Village Recreation Center, Hagman Architects.

ED+C announced the winners of the 2008 Excellence in Design Awards in the September 2008 issue. Winners and finalists are featured in detail in the September, October and November issues. The online application for the 2009 Excellence in Design Awards is now available at www.EDCmag.com.