The new Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University embeds the core values of public health—movement, movement, light and air, greenery, connection to place, social interaction, community engagement—in a highly unconventional, LEED Platinum building on an
urban campus in the heart of the nation’s capital. The building’s more radical features are evident in section, where research offices, classrooms classrooms and study areas are clustered around an array of multifloor void spaces that open the building’s dense core to daylight and views. An irresistible, sky -lit stair ascends all eight levels, encouraging physical activity. The building’s pod -like classrooms are set in from the perimeter wall so that informal study and social interaction space can overlook the bustling traffic circle. Introduction This new LEED Platinum certified School of Public Health, located on iconic Washington Circle Park in the heart of the nation’s capital, is an unusual and innovative response to site. The project’s m ost sustainable solutions are deeply embedded into its architecture, keenly demonstrating demonstrating the symbiosis between sustainability and public health.
The project’s central challenge was how to accommodate the program on an awkwardly configured site without disconnecting occupants from daylight, air and views—qualities that have particular meaning for students and faculty in public health. To achieve this, the design team extensively manipulated the building section: while the required r equired program would have fit on six above-grade floors, the floor-to-floor height was squeezed to 12 feet and a seventh level was inserted within the t he allowable zoning envelope instead.
This single move, only made possible through the t he optimization and integration of the building’s structural and mechanical systems, was the genesis of an unconventional skylit atrium, in which classrooms and study areas overlook the city through an open latticework of floor openings, inviting exploration and discovery. An open stairway at the building’s cent er connects all eight occupied floors, promoting health and wellness by encouraging building occupants to forgo use of the elevators, which are screened from view. Comunity The goals of this project mirrored the mission of the School of Public Health: advance the health and wellness of communities at the local, national and global level. Planning involved active and early participation of students, faculty and administrators. administrators. Key components, such as features that would make the building inviting to students beyond instructional hours, were identified prior to architectural design through a rigorous, consensus-building process. Given its prominent location on Washington Circle, many thousands of pedestrian, bicycle and automobile commuters commuters pass by the project site each day. The building is intimately connected to the
city’s public transportation network; the Metro stop one block away is among the busiest in Washington. The building, which hosts a Capital Bikeshare station, also serves a very active cycling community. In the midst of bustling activity, the project also created a quiet neighborhood park.
The building’s highly accessible ground-level auditoria and convening center play host to a multitude of events with a wellness and health focus, drawing students and visitors from the city, the nation
and the world. The project’s nonhierarchical nonhierarchic al approach to program, which eschews conventional organization of structured and informal learning environments, environments, was conceived to promote equity within this forward-looking forward-looking academic community.
EKOLOGIJA
This project is an important part of the university’s efforts to restore the neighborhood’s natural ecosystem. Prior to its redevelopment, the site was bordered by overgrown shrubs and modest shade from street trees in decline. Stormwater from a pre-existing building on the site and its parking
lot was piped directly into the municipal utility system. The project’s landscape strategy focused primarily on reducing storm runoff and improving the pedestrian experience. Each side of the site represents a different urban micro-environment, and the landscape design responds accordingly. Along neighborhood and campus edges, new street trees match the species of adjacent blocks. Porous flexible asphalt paving was used to protect existing trees. A buffer of native shrubs and small flowering trees between the sidewalk and building contributes to local biodiversity. Benches are located around the site.
A small neighborhood park at the site’s southern tip, under a heritage white oak, was e xpanded and incorporated into the overall landscape design, with planting beds and a stone seating wall. An extensive green roof, with plantings adapted to the heat of the DC environment, increases the vegetated habitat of the site. These measures form a biological ecosystem attuned to the harsh urban climate. Mandatory metrics Percentage of the site area designed to support vegetation: 31 percent Percentage of site area supporting vegetation before project began: 15 percent Percentage of landscaped areas covered by native or climate appropriate plants supporting native or migratory animals: 26 percent
VODA The building and its landscape design manage site water in a number of creative ways. An extensive green roof, covering 32 percent of the building’s roof surface, contributes to a 44 percent reduction in stormwater runoff. Rainwater is collected and stored in an 8,800 gallon cistern located within the planted park at the site’s southern tip. Subsequently treated and used for toilet flushing and cooling tower make-up water, the rainwater harvest system contributes to a 41 percent reduction in building fixture water usage. The use of native and adaptive plants for landscaping requires little or no water once established. Where appropriate, pavement area was reduced and replaced with planting beds to maximize pervious areas around the site. Shade provided by ground cover plantings and trees reduces direct sun incidence on exposed soils, maintaining soil moisture for plant health and growth. Mandatory metrics Predicted annual consumption of potable water for all uses, including process water: 3,903,065
gallons— 2,643 gallons/building occupantlons For US commercial buildings, median water use per person can range from 13 gallons per office worker per day to 315 gallons per hospital bed per day. US residential water use averages 300 gallons per day per household. Is potable water used for irrigation? No
EKONOMIJA
At the outset, the university’s LEED target was Gold. Gold remained the LEED objective through the Schematic and Design Development phases, when the concepts and sustainability strategies underpinning its unorthodox approach were conceived and developed. Prior to the commencement of the Construction Documents phase, a new dean was named to lead the School. Her conviction was that a School of Public Health ought to aspire to the highest standard of environmental stewardship and sustainability.
At the university’s request, the design team undertook an assessment of the feasibility of elevating the building’s LEED goal to Platinum, wit hout jeopardizing either the completion schedule or the basic rudiments of the design. After a thorough life-cycle cost analysis, the team determined that the LEED bar could be raised by modifying a relatively modest number of building components and systems. Slightly higher-performance exterior glazing was specified; a heat recovery chiller was added; meters were installed to permit energy measurement and verification; and the extent of spaces treated by chilled beams, already present in the project, was extended to more program areas. Even arriving relatively late in design, these enhancements represented only 1.9 percent of the total cost of construction. The project earned LEED Platinum. Mandatory metrics Cost per square foot: $372
ENERGIJA In its unusual organization of program, unorthodox treatment of building section, and selection of building systems, this project eschews many conventional norms associated with a campus building in a dense urban setting. The building’s most sustainable ideas, such as the hollowed-out central core that admits air and light, are indistinguishable from its parti, structure, and form. Smart systems are key. Major equipment includes a heat pump chiller serving the base cooling load with heat rejection to the building hot water systems, as well as high efficiency chillers, pumps, cooling tower fans, and boilers. A dedicated outside air system (DOAS), with dual wheel exhaust air heat recovery devices, serves the majority of the building; it delivers outside air directly through the building only once and is right-sized to provide proper ventilation, optimized via the use of CO₂ sensors. Chilled beams provide efficient heating and cooling without increasing the air change rate. Within the atrium, classrooms are detached from the exterior wall and surrounded by a zone of open interactive and study space. The study zone functions as an environmental buffer, tolerant of a greater temperature and comfort range. The classrooms do not see load swings associated with the building’s thermal envelope. Mandatory metrics Predicted consumed energy use intensity (EUI): 84 kBtu/sq ft/yr
Energy use intensity (EUI) refers to total energy use by the facility including energy purchased from utilities and provided by onsite renewable sources. Predicted Net EUI: 84.1 kBtu/sq ft/yr Predicted Net carbon emissions: 28.2 lb/sq ft/yr
Net carbon emissions refers to net purchased energy use (total energy use, less any energy generated on-site from renewable resources). Predicted percent reduction from national average EUI for building type: 64 percent Predicted lighting power density: 0.84 W/sq ft
Encouraged metrics: Actual consumed EUI: 82.3 kBtu/sq ft/yr Actual net EUI: 82.3 kBtu/sq ft/yr Actual net carbon emissions: 30.3 lb/sq ft/yr Actual percent reduction from national average EUI for building type: 65 percent
Resources
EPA’s Target Finder, AIA’s 2030 Commitment Reporting Tool, or the Architecture 2030 Challenge reference materials provide comparison baselines for energy use and convert utilityprovided energy consumed into equivalent carbon emission impact.
PROMJENE The project incorporates a number of systems and materials that enhance its durability, versatility and adaptive re-use. Flooring in the main lobby and public circulation areas is terrazzo, a highly durable surface. LED light fixtures, whose lamps have an expected life of well into the thousands of hours, are used throughout the building. Most interior spaces, including offices, open work areas and classrooms have no built-in casework, and are furnished instead with movable stations and furniture. This allows for reconfiguration over time without modifying fixed building components. Particularly in the classrooms, there is a desire to maintain flexibility in the seating arrangement to accommodate different pedagogies. A convening center, comprised of four individual meeting rooms equipped with vertically folding operable walls that retract into the ceiling when not in use, provides flexible space for public outreach and community engagement. In a post-occupancy evaluation conducted by the design team one year after completion, it was revealed that use of the flexible convening center, particularly by groups outside the school, vastly exceeded preliminary projections. Mandatory metrics Percentage of project floor area, if any, that represents adapting existing buildings: 0 percent Anticipated number of days the project can maintain function without utility power: 1 day
Encouraged metrics Percentage of power needs supportable by onsite power generation: 25 percent
What makes a resilient building? Learn more in the AIA's Qualities of Resilience document.
ISTRAŽIVANJE The design team has maintained a close connection to the building and its occupants since construction was completed. Approximately one year following completion, a post occupancy evaluation (POE) was conducted to study user experience. This evaluation included interviews and an online survey, eliciting over 100 responses from faculty, administration and students. The survey covered how the building supports public health, work and social activities, LEED awareness and thermal comfort. The team has also tracked energy usage since operations commenced, plotting it against initial predictions. Sharp differences between modeled and actual energy consumption were analyzed and eventually determined to reflect the building’s expanded operating hours, owing to its unexpected popularity with students. The building has drawn attention from the local community. There is great demand for building tours and public events, far surpassing expectations. The project was also featured at the 2016 recent
TEDxFoggyBottom, capitalizing upon interest generated by the building’s unco nventional design. The building has also been transformational for the practice, drawing the attention of national news media. In a December 2014 article, Philip Kennicott, Art and Architecture Critic of the Washington
Post, cited the project as an “exemplar of how architectural design and aesthetics can positively affect human health behaviors.” Mandatory metrics Post occupancy evaluation (POE) summary:
The post occupancy evaluation focused on user experience and building performance. Over 100 responses were collected from faculty, administration and students. The survey topics included how the building supports public health, how the building supports work and social activities, LEED awareness, and thermal comfort. The POE revealed that key design goals were highly successful, and also uncovered some unexpected results.
“What a wonderful motivation to walk up a few flights or more. I rarely use the elevators.” The building successfully encourages movement and reinforces the mission of healthy lifestyles through sustainable building design. 87 percent of respondents agreed that t he building supported their health more than other campus buildings. LEED awareness is strong, but has room for improvement. 97 percent of respondents reported being aware of the LEED designation, however their knowledge of specific systems varied. Unexpectedly, temperature was a big issue for students—the majority reported feeling cold, often year round, in the classrooms, auditorium, and study spaces. This is sharply contrasted with the faculty, who generally felt comfortable in these spaces. In discussions with the engineer and GW, the fine tuning process has continued, and the users are being further educated about thermostat controls.
