KVCC Sustainable Agriculture Building
Completion
Occupancy
The building is owner-occupied; it is open approximately 360 days per year. During a typical week there are between 10-20 staff/faculty members there full-time. The lecture hall seats 60 people and is occupied 30% of the time. The classrooms and labs can accommodate a total of 150 students and are occupied approximately 50% of the time.
Scope
| Type of Construction | New |
|---|---|
| Number of buildings | 1 |
| Floor area of each building | 16,960 |
| Bathrooms | 3.0 |
| Stories | 2 |
| Conditioned Building Volume | 142,000 cu ft |
| Conditioned Floor Area | 16,690 sq ft |
| Unconditioned Floor Area | 5,000 sq ft |
Location and Climate Details
Lab/classroom
| Address |
25 Stanley Rd. Hinckley, ME 04944
United States |
|---|---|
| Location Type | Rural |
| Climate Region | Zone 6 |
| Köppen Climate Type | Dfc |
| Lat. / Long. | POINT (-69.6307958 44.6689615) |
| Elevation | 180 ft |
| Annual CDD and Base Temp | 1997 | 65 F |
| Annual HDD and Base Temp | 7636 | 65 F |
Site
The 600 acre site is a portion of the former Goodwill-Hinckley campus located in Hinckley, ME. The site houses a few existing school buildings, such as a former middle school, a recreation center, pavilion, and a chapel. Also located on the site are numerous farming buildings to support the fully functioning KVCC farm.
Materials and Design Strategy
One of the challenges of the project was to accommodate the owner's request to use sustainable, local materials, as well as zero maintenance materials on a very tight budget. The glu-lam beams used in the lecture hall were sourced locally from sustainable wood. Local brick was used on the exterior, along with fiber cement board. Due to the tight budget, the energy model was key in informing the best use of insulation for the building envelope and window types. Numerous configurations were tested in the energy model which helped determine the best return on investment for the budget. For instance, we were able to go with double pane windows on the south face of the building and triple pane on the north face, thus saving the client money.
The energy model was used to determine the best solar orientation for the building based on the fact that we were using solar panels on the roof. We determined that we needed a 10,000 SF photovoltaic array to support the building's electric load. In order to get this amount of square footage on the southern facing roof, the building was designed with an offset roof with a 4/12 pitch on the south side and a 12/12 pitch on the north side. The labs are located on the south side of the building, each with large bay window bump-outs. These bumpouts not only provide great views, but take advantage of the solar heat gain and are prime locations for growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs in a climate with such a short growing season.