
地址: Ithaca, NY
建筑面积: 1,360 sq. meters
竣工日期: August 2004
能源利用: Lighting
The building's narrow footprint allows for effective daylighting. Few areas of the building are farther than 15 feet from an exterior window. Translucent skylights run along the spine of the animal wing, bringing natural light into the center of the building. Large windows, shielded with louvered, horizontal lightshelves on the south-facing elevation, provide daylight in staff areas, including the laundry, offices, and treatment and surgery suite.
Where electric lighting is required, high-efficiency fixtures meet IESNA illumination standards while keeping energy consumption low. Animal and staff spaces utilize efficient light bulbs and a minimal number of fixtures.
Natural ventilation
During temperate times of year, the building can be heated and cooled almost entirely by natural ventilation. Large sliding barn doors open into shared animal play spaces and the multipurpose lobby area, allowing cross ventilation during warm months. Operable windows serve all staff and support rooms with fresh air. Manual and automatic shutdown switches cut off mechanical air circulation in zones where windows are open. A covered outdoor play area allows animals to get fresh air and exercise even on cool, rainy days.
Mechanical systems
The building is heated and cooled by a ground-source heat-pump system, which utilizes far less energy than a conventional furnace, boiler, or electric heat pump. Natural-gas unit heaters temper fresh intake air in times of extreme cold to prevent the water coils in the heat-recovery units from freezing. High-performance glazing and insulation levels exceed the local codes, minimizing energy loss through the building envelope.
The animal rooms are grouped into clusters, each with its own zone damper. When few animals are in the facility, unoccupied zones can be switched off, reducing the heating and cooling loads and slowing the variable-speed fans. A heat-recovery system captures energy that would otherwise be lost with exhausted air.
Energy security
The use of daylighting and natural ventilation throughout the building minimizes energy consumption during peak daylight hours, especially during warm weather. During a blackout, operable windows and sliding barn doors would permit natural ventilation and, during the day, lighting, without mechanical assistance. High-performance glazing and insulation levels that exceed code requirements help to maintain comfortable interior temperatures even without additional heating and cooling. The project's backup power system would maintain minimal energy to critical safety equipment during a blackout.
节水方案: Runoff from the parking and roof surfaces is channeled through a series of grassy swales, into a filtration trench and detention pond designed to allow stormwater infiltration. The landscape consists entirely of native species of trees and grasses, which require no ongoing irrigation or fertilization. The wildflowers and field grasses used for the majority of the plantings preserve the character and habitat that existed on site prior to the new construction. A mix of new conifer and deciduous trees was planted to shade and buffer the parking area, and deciduous trees were planted to shade the building's western elevation.
材料选择: Materials selected for the new adoption center had to meet a range of important criteria. While durability and ease of maintenance are important in a facility serviced by volunteers and a small core staff, indoor air quality and sustainability were also vital to the goal of providing a broader service to the community.
The most challenging material selections were for animal rooms, which receive daily abuse. All animal-room floors are stained concrete, with flyash replacing some of the cement, finished with a water-based, low-VOC sealer. Animal-room walls are a hard, troweled plaster finished with a zero-VOC sealer.
Structural and non-structural materials with recycled content were sought for use in the project. Most of the primary components in the building were manufactured locally, reducing the cost and environmental impact of transportation. All composite wood products are free of added urea-formaldehyde; the carpets all meet the Carpet and Rug Institute Green Seal standards; and the paints and finishes were selected for their low emissions of VOCs. The exterior cladding of the main wing of the building is tongue-and-groove poplar certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, as is the wood ceiling in the meeting room and multipurpose lobby room.
A generous recycling area with separate canisters dedicated to glass, metal, paper, and cardboard is located in a central area of the facility. Maintenance staff collect material from smaller recycling bins throughout the building and transport it to this central space on a daily or weekly basis, as required.
室内环境品质: The building was designed to provide an indoor environment that would be most beneficial to both animals and people. The narrow footprint and plan configuration maximize daylighting and natural ventilation. All staff spaces have operable windows, extensive daylighting (from both vertical glazing and skylights), direct views to the outdoors, and individual electric lighting controls. The shared animal rooms and play spaces have operable windows and sliding doors that can be opened, weather permitting. Individual animal rooms have either operable windows or direct access to the sunlit and naturally ventilated indoor play spaces.
The use of 100% fresh air in all animal rooms and an elevated air change rate protect the health of the animals. The use of paints and finishes with low or no emissions of VOCs, engineered wood products with no added urea-formaldehyde, and Green Seal carpets contribute to a high-quality interior environment.