The Germantown Friends School sits on a densely urban site in Philadelphia. In collaboration with David Ade, AIA, LEED, A.P., Principal at SMP Architects and Scott Ritchie, Associate at SMP Architects, the school has designed and constructed their new science classrooms as a didactic green building. This green building provides unique opportunities to educate building users about stewardship of the environment and sustainability.
At the opening of the center, the school’s director quoted William Butler Yeats “Education is not the filling of a pail, it is the lighting of a fire”. In the spirit of that philosophy, every effort was made to make all of the green and sustainable aspects of the building as visible as possible. This allowed them to use the methods and ongoing green use as everyday lessons for the students.
David Ade and Scott Ritchie discussed the various challenges they faced trying to bring green spaces to a distinctly urban setting and the creative solutions they implemented to address these various challenges.
The Key Sustainable strategies and some of the ways they were addressed included -
Stormwater managment – which incoroporated cisterns to recycle water, a highly vegetated green roof and a new courtyard which included rain sensitive gardens – SMP Architects found ways to direct rainwater into directed downspouts, river stone filled swales, plant filled areas and rain gardens which allow for the recycling of rain water to recharge (water soaks into the ground instead of into the city sewer system). The water is managed and reused in a more natural and organic matter.
Energy – geo-exchange wells which hold air temperature at a consistent 55 degrees, so less energy is required to heat or cool the air in the building/ a photovoltaic array – or in layman’s terms, solar panels/ Daylighting and Natural ventilation – there are extensive glass windows which allow for natural lighting, as well as operable windows and skylights – all of the lighting in the building is connected to occupancy sensors
Materials - the goal was to minimize the number and type of materials used – Materials that were used include – Fiber cement panel system / Zinc cladding which is very low maintenance and repairs itself from minor scratches and cuts /polished concrete / rubber floors / exposed structure Agrifibers (sunflower seed board and wheat board) were used in many of the paneling, counters, and use surfaces. There was extensive use of recycled plastic materials in some of the walling and other items in the building. SMP also worked closely with the school to develop a completely new recyling and trash disposal system that will also allow for measurement of the success of the recycling program.
Science in Sight – the most important aspect of the design was to make the changes part of the hands-on day to day learning at the school. Things like water gauges on the cistern which allow for monitoring by the students and exposed systems and materials which the students interact with on a daily basis bring this crucial aspect into not only the asthetics and energy management but also into the spirit of learning at the school.
Technology was integrated through the Building Dashboard which allows students to access, from the classroom, statistics and information on all of the green and sustainable features and how they are progressing and being managed.
Viewing the diagrams and photographs of these improvements and technologies is truly amazing. This building addresses not only the move to a greener and more sustainable community but the even more important (at least to this writer) aspect of illuminating the available technologies and spreading that word to a new generation. SMP Architects and Germantown Friends School have created a truly interactive and new learning environment for the students.
Tags: Germantown Friends School, green, green technology, learning, school, SMP Architects, sustainability
