Hitchcock Center for the Environment
Living Building Challenge Education Center
Project Photo Gallery
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Project Team
BE Boston 19 Registrants BE Boston 20 Registrants BuildingEnergy 16 Full Conference Member
BE Boston 19 Registrants BE Boston 20 Registrants BuildingEnergy 16 Full Conference Member
Jonathan continues to serve as Founder / Senior Advisor to the firm he founded 44 years ago, Wright Builders Inc. Beginning in 1976, he was involved in early solar projects, including Jonathan’s development of Massachusetts’s first active solar industrial building in 1977.
The Wright Builders Inc. team continue their dogged pursuit of a sustainable methods and approaches, which include two completed Living Building Challenge projects, the first firm to accomplish this. As a leader in innovation and design, Wright Builders partners with architects and designers to produce signature residences, affordable housing, institutional renovations, and business locations.
Jonathan presents and lectures around the region.
Jonathan and his co-owner Mark Ledwell have provided leadership for the development of Village Hill Northampton, where Wright Builders has delivered over 40 LEED residences. Living Building Makers, a collection of stories about the inspiration effect that sustainable work has on all involved, is due out from Ecotone Publishing in Spring 2019. It will be Jonathans third book.
Builder
Other Team Members
Architects: designLAB Architects (Sam Batchelor and Kelley Ard Haigh)
Builder: Wright Builders (Mark Ledwell, Jonathan Writh, Jim Small)
MEP Engineer: Buro Happold Engineering (Kaye Palomo and John Swift)
Civile Engineer: Berkshire Design Group (Christopher Chamberland)
Water System Engineer: Buro Happold Engineering (Ronald Furbish)
Structural Engineer: Structures Workshop (Erik A. Nelson)
Sustainability Consultant: Linnean Solutions (Jim Newman)
Materials Vetting (Red List): Integrated EcoStrategy (Charley Stevenson)
Lighting Designer: Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting
Landscape Designer: Stephen Stimson Associates Landscape Architects (Greg Tuzzolo)
Solar Installer: PV Squared (John Child and Chris Krezmien)
Commissioning Agent: Collier's International (Robert Lee)
Owner's Project Manager: Chris Riddle (retired, Kuhn Riddle Architects)
Hitchcock Center Staff: Julie Johnson, Executive Director and Jessica Schultz, Communication and Living Building Coordinator
Ratings, Awards and Recognition
The Hitchcock Center for the Environment (HCE) is a nonprofit environmental education center in Amherst, MA that has served Western Massachusetts for over 50 years. The Center serves over 9,000 visitors annually through educational programing and events that are open to the public. (www.hitchcockcenter.org) In 2016, HCE completed a new 8,900 square foot net zero energy and water environmental center. In planning for its new facility, HCE needed additional educational space for programing and a building that amplified its environmental education mission as a leader in sustainable design and operation. HCE built to the highest standard of sustainable development in the built environment by taking the Living Building Challenge (LBC). This required HCE to meet over 20 rigorous performance standards that include zero net energy and water and the use of locally sourced, non-toxic materials. The Hitchcock Center is excited to begin the 12-month audit period toward achieving LBC, estimated to begin in early 2017.
Quick Facts
General
Location
Amherst, Massachusetts
Building Type
Educational/Assembly
Project Type
Zero Energy
Basis of Performance Claim
Modeled, Zero Energy Program
Bathrooms
4.0
Conditioned Floor Area
7,442 sq ft
Total Cost of Project
$4,473,722
Energy Summary
Energy Data Type
Modeled, Zero Energy Program
Renewable Energy System Type(s)
Photovoltaics
Ratings
Living Building Challenge 2.1
Energy Star Score
100
Annual renewable energy generated
64,887 kWh/year
Envelope and Mechanicals
Subslab assembly
4-inches of expanded polystyrene, continuous under slab, and around foundation wall
Foundation wall assembly
Conventional poured in place concrete foundation wall wrapped with 4 inches of expanded polystyrene insulation.
Above grade wall assembly
siding over plywood sheathing, over 6 inches polyisocyanurate insulation (2 layers of 3 inch, joints staggered), over air and vapor barrier, over 3/8 inch plywood sheathing, over 1.25 inches tongue and groove sheathing
Door Assembly
Hollow metal door with polyurethane core. Ceco Door, Assa Abloy 1-3/4" Trio-E Door.
Air Changes per hour, ACH50
0.65 ACH50
Project Photo Gallery
Project Team
BE Boston 19 Registrants BE Boston 20 Registrants BuildingEnergy 16 Full Conference Member
BE Boston 19 Registrants BE Boston 20 Registrants BuildingEnergy 16 Full Conference Member
Jonathan continues to serve as Founder / Senior Advisor to the firm he founded 44 years ago, Wright Builders Inc. Beginning in 1976, he was involved in early solar projects, including Jonathan’s development of Massachusetts’s first active solar industrial building in 1977.
The Wright Builders Inc. team continue their dogged pursuit of a sustainable methods and approaches, which include two completed Living Building Challenge projects, the first firm to accomplish this. As a leader in innovation and design, Wright Builders partners with architects and designers to produce signature residences, affordable housing, institutional renovations, and business locations.
Jonathan presents and lectures around the region.
Jonathan and his co-owner Mark Ledwell have provided leadership for the development of Village Hill Northampton, where Wright Builders has delivered over 40 LEED residences. Living Building Makers, a collection of stories about the inspiration effect that sustainable work has on all involved, is due out from Ecotone Publishing in Spring 2019. It will be Jonathans third book.
Other Team Members
Architects: designLAB Architects (Sam Batchelor and Kelley Ard Haigh)
Builder: Wright Builders (Mark Ledwell, Jonathan Writh, Jim Small)
MEP Engineer: Buro Happold Engineering (Kaye Palomo and John Swift)
Civile Engineer: Berkshire Design Group (Christopher Chamberland)
Water System Engineer: Buro Happold Engineering (Ronald Furbish)
Structural Engineer: Structures Workshop (Erik A. Nelson)
Sustainability Consultant: Linnean Solutions (Jim Newman)
Materials Vetting (Red List): Integrated EcoStrategy (Charley Stevenson)
Lighting Designer: Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting
Landscape Designer: Stephen Stimson Associates Landscape Architects (Greg Tuzzolo)
Solar Installer: PV Squared (John Child and Chris Krezmien)
Commissioning Agent: Collier's International (Robert Lee)
Owner's Project Manager: Chris Riddle (retired, Kuhn Riddle Architects)
Hitchcock Center Staff: Julie Johnson, Executive Director and Jessica Schultz, Communication and Living Building Coordinator
Ratings, Awards and Recognition
The Hitchcock Center for the Environment (HCE) is a nonprofit environmental education center in Amherst, MA that has served Western Massachusetts for over 50 years. The Center serves over 9,000 visitors annually through educational programing and events that are open to the public. (www.hitchcockcenter.org) In 2016, HCE completed a new 8,900 square foot net zero energy and water environmental center. In planning for its new facility, HCE needed additional educational space for programing and a building that amplified its environmental education mission as a leader in sustainable design and operation. HCE built to the highest standard of sustainable development in the built environment by taking the Living Building Challenge (LBC). This required HCE to meet over 20 rigorous performance standards that include zero net energy and water and the use of locally sourced, non-toxic materials. The Hitchcock Center is excited to begin the 12-month audit period toward achieving LBC, estimated to begin in early 2017.
Quick Facts
General
| Location | Amherst, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Building Type | Educational/Assembly |
| Project Type | Zero Energy |
| Basis of Performance Claim | Modeled, Zero Energy Program |
| Bathrooms | 4.0 |
| Conditioned Floor Area | 7,442 sq ft |
| Total Cost of Project | $4,473,722 |
Energy Summary
| Energy Data Type | Modeled, Zero Energy Program |
|---|---|
| Renewable Energy System Type(s) | Photovoltaics |
| Ratings |
Living Building Challenge 2.1 |
| Energy Star Score | 100 |
| Annual renewable energy generated | 64,887 kWh/year |
Envelope and Mechanicals
| Subslab assembly |
4-inches of expanded polystyrene, continuous under slab, and around foundation wall |
|---|---|
| Foundation wall assembly |
Conventional poured in place concrete foundation wall wrapped with 4 inches of expanded polystyrene insulation. |
| Above grade wall assembly |
siding over plywood sheathing, over 6 inches polyisocyanurate insulation (2 layers of 3 inch, joints staggered), over air and vapor barrier, over 3/8 inch plywood sheathing, over 1.25 inches tongue and groove sheathing |
| Door Assembly |
Hollow metal door with polyurethane core. Ceco Door, Assa Abloy 1-3/4" Trio-E Door. |
| Air Changes per hour, ACH50 | 0.65 ACH50 |