McGinnis Education Center Goes For The Green - Archives

The design, construction and operation of the new center reflect the values of the Boy Scouts of America. Photo by Linda Jeub.

With the Boy Scouts of America’s emphasis on protecting, preserving and conserving the natural environment, it is fitting that the design, construction and operation of the new McGinnis Education Center at Camp Guyasuta near Sharpsburg, Penn., would reflect those same values.

The master plan for McGinnis Education Center incorporated a sustainable building approach using as its guideline the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The result? A building that treads lightly on planet Earth and one that the Greater Pittsburgh Council anticipates will earn a LEED gold or high silver rating.

The Center is actually two separate buildings connected by a mechanical room. A two-story section houses a dormitory with space for 114 scouts at six per room. The other section is one story high, but with a cathedral ceiling and 18-foot walls. This section houses the education wing with a large meeting/dining room, two conference rooms and a kitchen that can accommodate 160 people, making the center capable of hosting overnight resident programs as well as day programs.

Gary Moshier, AIA, LEED-Accredited Professional, and partner with Moshier Studio in Pittsburgh, became involved with the project through his volunteer work with the Boy Scouts. The Greater Pittsburgh Council asked him to develop a schematic design for an education center for Camp Guyasuta. Based on that quick schematic, a generous donor, who believes in scouting and education, contributed all the funding for the project and the Council asked Moshier to proceed with the design.

Moshier says that incorporating these green building features is not difficult to do. “It just takes some care and attention to detail from the architect and the builder. The U.S. Green Building Council spells out the LEED requirements very clearly, which makes our work much easier.”

“The Boy Scouts wanted a building that would be easy to maintain, efficient to operate and visibly demonstrate the reduced ecological footprint to the users,” said Moshier. With an eye toward durability and energy savings, the team selected insulating concrete forms for the walls. These provide two-and-a-half times the insulation value required by code and met the structural need of having the rear wall act as a retaining wall. Due to the thermal performance of the walls, coupled with R-30 roof construction and energy recovery ventilation units, fluorescent lighting and the daylight harvesting in the Great Room, the energy consumption is modeled to be 55 percent more efficient than the ASHRAE standard. Because of insulation, natural and mechanical ventilation, and the desire of the scouts to project the proper image of a camp building, the building is not air conditioned.

The first floor of the dorm wing is heated with an in-slab hot water heating system. A single gas-fired boiler feeds this system as well as hot water coils in air handlers that serve the rest of the building. A simple building automation system monitors and coordinates the various systems, including the range hood in the kitchen.

Low water use starts outside the building with the use of native plants that do not require irrigation. Inside, water-free urinals and dual-level flush toilets combined with low-flow faucets and showerheads reduced wastewater by 57 percent and overall water use by 37 percent. Even the commercial dishwasher contributes, by reusing the rinse water from one load as the wash water for the next.

In addition to the native plants, the site design is sensitive to the environment. A zoning variance was granted to allow the building to be built only adding two accessible parking spaces. Several existing spaces were reserved for van and car pool vehicles, which is how most campers will arrive. Although Camp Guyasuta is situated in a narrow valley with a high water quality stream, the building is set 100 feet back from the stream. In fact the porch slab steps back at the south end to respect this set-back. Site disturbance was held to less than one acre, and impervious paving was limited to the sidewalk from the accessible parking spaces. All plantings are perennials and the grass is a no-mow seed mix.

One of the greatest assets of Camp Guyasuta to the Greater Pittsburgh Council is the fact that it is 160 acres of wilderness tucked into the most desirable suburbs just six miles from Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle. The McGinnis Education Center is the gateway to the camp, and is located less than 1⁄2 mile from three public bus routes. The camp is a regular biking destination for Scouts in the area and was already outfitted with bike racks.

Pittsburgh’s location in the heart of the traditional industrial region means that many of the materials can easily come from regional suppliers. The Reward Wall Systems insulating concrete forms were manufactured just 20 miles down the river, and the aggregates for the concrete walls and slabs as well as other aggregates were extracted from nearby glacial deposits. Other regional materials include doors, cement board siding, engineered lumber, gypsum wallboard, windows, roofing, rigid insulation, roof trusses, glued laminated timbers, and windows. Engineered lumber made with rapidly renewable resources was used for the floor joists, floor and roof deck, roof trusses, ledgers and beams. Solid panels composed of wheat straw from agricultural waste were used between the dorm rooms. This product was selected not only for its environmental properties but because it provided an abuse resistant wall construction. The roof deck in the great room is made of compressed recycled newspaper.

Indoor air quality was protected by preventing the use of any urea-formaldehyde containing products in the building and by using paint and adhesive products with low or no VOCs. Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide levels are monitored by the ventilation control system. The building was completely flushed out prior to occupancy.

Because the McGinnis Center is truly an education center, Moshier Studio and Informatics Studio developed a series of informational signs throughout the building calling attention to the materials and technologies that make the McGinnis Education Center a green building. There is an orienting poster located just inside the entrance to the education wing and smaller signs on features such as the waterless urinals, FSC Certified doors, recycled content carpet, daylight dimming and cut-away views of the ICF and wheatboard walls.

Moshier, who discounted his services for the project, has been a proponent of green building for more than ten years. Bob Mazzuca, Scout Executive of the Greater Pittsburgh Council says that when Moshier explained the green building concepts and using insulating concrete forms for the exterior envelope of the building, it made perfect sense. “It was a good fit for us,” says Mazzuca. “We’re a not-for-profit organization, and if over time we can save a significant amount of money in energy costs, that really makes sense. Our goal is to have this facility available to generations of young people.”

Design Team

Owner:

Greater Pittsburgh Council, Boy Scouts of America

Robert, J. Mazzuca, Scout Executive

Robert A. Tuggle, Scout Executive

Kevin Dowling, Director of Camping

Michael Daniher, Camp Ranger

Architect:

Moshier Studio

Gary P. Moshier, AIA, LEED AP – Project Manager

Cherie H. Moshier, AIA – Project Architect

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection Engineer:

Bert Davis and Associates

Bert N. Davis, PhD., PE

Bradley A. Crow, PE

Gary M. Albert, PE, CPD, LEED AP

Structural Engineer

Watson Engineers

James N. Watson, PE

Landscape Architect:

Pashek Associates. Ltd.

Nancy Lonnett Roman, RLA

John O. Buerkle, Jr., RLA, AICP, CPRP

Marcy Campbell, ASLA

Civil and Geotechnical Engineer:

Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc.

Phillip A. Bishop, PE

Graphic Designer:

Informatics Studio

Commissioning Agent

PNC Realty Services

Paul Fusan, PE

Contractors

General Contractor:

Turner Construction Co., Small Projects Group

Aaron Donahue – Project Executive

Rich Sullivan – Project manager

James Pevarnik – Superintendent

HVAC Contractor:

Sauer Brothers

Controls Contractor:

Robert Meyer Co.

Plumbing Contractor:

W.G. Tomko, Inc.

Electrical Contractor:

Fuellgraf Electric

Foodservice Equipment

Curran Taylor, Inc.

ICF Contractor

Solid Wall Construction

Fire Protection Contractor

S.A. Communale

Carpentry Contractor

Ligonier Contractors

Painting Contractor

Labella Painting

Excavation Contractor

Joseph P. King