The Smithsonian’s new LEED Platinum laboratory reinforces its commitment to the environment
A desire to outwardly express the mission of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center‘s (SERC) Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory Expansion in Edgewater, Md., has been honored with the 2016 Metal Architecture Design Award for Sustainable Design. The environmental research arm of the Smithsonian Institution, SERC is dedicated to the study of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Completed in 2015, the 94,000-square-foot Mathias Laboratory was expanded and renovated to be the Smithsonian’s most environmentally sustainable building to date, achieving LEED Platinum status.
The facility, which is named after Charles McC. “Mac” Mathias Jr., a Republican Congressman who served in the House and Senate from 1961 to 1987. Mathias was an early environmental defender, helping to create the Chesapeake Bay Program in 1983 and advocating for legislation that would protect the Bay from pollution and overdevelopment.
A Master Plan
Philadelphia-based architectural firm EwingCole was originally tasked with doing the master plan for the entire 2,600 acres the environmental research center occupies. “We started by taking a look at what was on-site and studying the features of the natural landscape and of the built environment, with an effort to understand the place as a whole, how these systems work together and what the possibilities were for development of the SERC property to support the research mission they have,” says Jeff Hirsch, principal, director of cultural practice at EwingCole.
Hirsch says it was immediately apparent that there was a pressing need to take the existing Mathias lab and to improve it. The original lab was no longer capable of supporting the high-tech research SERC wanted to do, and there were concerns about the ability of the sprinkler system to work and the organization of the hazardous and flammable chemicals in the building. “The master plan identified an urgent need to get going with the lab building and its addition,” Hirsch says. “So while we were still completing the master plan, a separate team got started with the lab in order to solve some of the problems that the Smithsonian had and expand its capabilities for new research.”
A Sustainable Research Mission
According to Hirsch, SERC wanted to increase its capacity to be at the forefront of environmental research, while doing it in a way that is sustainable because it reflects its mission of studying ecology and the environment.
EwingCole was tasked with making a lab building that could support the Smithsonian’s emerging research on the environment and the Chesapeake Bay. From the very beginning, Hirsch says the lab needed to be a deep reflection of SERC’s commitment to the environment and a demonstration of that commitment to the public. “There was no question that this building had to be a flexible lab space that would accommodate whatever direction science took over the next 50 years and would allow [SERC] to be at this cutting edge of science, at any point along the way,” he explains. “But it also had to take into account their mission and be respectful of the environment, and to take this awareness into consideration in terms of how the built environment was planned and designed.”
Environmental Inspiration
Understanding the landscape, and the variations that existed along the Bay and the river, was key to how the new building came together. “We were really moved by the ruins of farms and the silos, and all of the metal language of architecture that we saw in these places,” Hirsch says. “We wanted to bring that into the design of the building.”
To tie the new building in with the other nearby buildings on campus, Hirsch says they came to realize this idea of industry and agriculture was important because it reflected the vernacular architecture that they saw around the campus. “It was also a way that could bring a kind of machine aesthetic into the design of the new building that would seem modern, but would reflect what we were seeing throughout the site,” he adds. “We ended up choosing some materials that also spoke to some of the more recently designed buildings, and tried to create a collage of that aesthetic.”
David G. Virgil, AIA, senior project architect at EwingCole, says that some of the forms they included reflected what they saw out in the countryside, whether it were shed roofs or corrugated metal structures that are endemic to the surrounding agricultural area.
The metal panels spoke to the agricultural inspiration the architects were taking from the industrial buildings. “We needed a tight building in order to make some of the energy goals we had in terms of controlling the indoor environment,” Hirsch explains. “We looked to CENTRIA pretty early in the design process for advice and to get a deeper understanding of what was available in the market, and how we could design a building that exceeded the code requirements.”
Moon Township, Pa.-based CENTRIA supplied 28,140 square feet of a custom, 4-inch MetalWrap panel, which served as both the moisture and air barrier, as well as a thermal insulation solution, and forms the basis of the exterior envelope. CENTRIA also supplied 31,603 square feet of its Profile Series Econolap metal wall panels in Light Seawolf; 6,142 square feet of its FormaBond metal wall panels in Silversmith and Raucous Orange; and 15,590 square feet of its SRS3 structural standing seam roof system in Limestone.
“The MetalWrap system provides a number of advantages to the installation process thanks to its single-component construction, but design architects are often drawn to it because of its aesthetic versatility, especially on a mixed-medium building envelope like the Mathias Laboratory,” says Jeff Peskowitz, rainscreen systems product manager at CENTRIA. “You can tailor the aesthetic to meet any number of demands without sacrificing performance.”
The Path to Platinum
When the project began, Hirsch says the goal was simply to be LEED certified. However, as the project progressed and it became evident that LEED Platinum could be reached, the architects and client team made some changes during the building process to achieve this goal.
“It became really moving to people within the Smithsonian that they had been able to achieve a project that had such ambitious energy performance and sustainability goals,” Hirsch says. “It really was a statement of everything that was going on campus, and a direct reflection of SERC’s advocacy for environmental issues in the local and national community, and they are very proud of everything the building became.”
The Smithsonian even tried some pretty cutting-edge features, including the graywater treatment system that is basically running the whole fire protection system on campus. “They’ve really been out there trying to be in the forefront of who they are and what they do in their work, but also reflected in their facilities,” Virgil says.
Along with passive solar design, the project features 250 geothermal wells for heating and cooling, along with 12, 35-ton, two-stage heat pumps. It also has an automated lighting and building automation system. Its on-site solar energy production comes from a 352 kW array of solar panels, which breaks down to 312 kW for electrical photovoltaic energy and 40 kW for closed-loop, domestic hot water production. Three rainwater cisterns capture a total of 16,000 gallons of rainwater, while 4.56 acres are a constructed wetland for stormwater management.
With a goal of exceeding the national energy code by 40 percent, the Mathias Lab actually emits 37 percent less CO2 than a non-LEED-certified lab and is 42 percent more energy efficient than a non-LEED-certified lab. Additionally, 70 percent of its materials were regionally sourced and 96 percent of the construction waste was recycled.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
(SERC) Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory Expansion, Edgewater, Md.
Completed: 2015
Total square footage: 94,000 square feet
Owner: Smithsonian Environmental Center
Architect: EwingCole, Philadelphia, www.ewingcole.com
General contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Chantilly, Va., www.henselphelps.com
Dealer/installer: A.C. Dellovade Inc., Canonsburg, Pa., www.acdellovade.com
Curtainwall installer: Glass and Metals Inc., Harrisonburg, Va., www.glassandmetals.com
Curtainwall: Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, Santa Monica, Calif., www.obe.com
Louvers/suncreens: Construction Specialties Inc., Cranford, N.J., www.c-sgroup.com
Metal wall/roof panels: CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa., www.centriaperformance.com
Photos: Ron Blunt