LEED Gold-certified dog training center
by Jonathan McGaha | December 31, 2009 12:00 am
The 17-acre
(6.8-hectare) USDA National Detector Dog Training Center in Newman, Ga., recently earned LEED Gold certification. The facility is the home base for training dogs-mostly beagles-and their handlers assigned to safeguard the nation against potentially harmful invasive plants, vermin and insects that arrive in the U.S. at airports, shipping ports and border crossings. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of potential damage to the nation’s agriculture and food supply are at stake.
The new campus is much larger than a predecessor in Florida and an inaugural facility at Lackland Air Force base in Texas, where the program originated in 1986. The new center can accommodate up to 100 dogs-primarily beagles rescued from shelters-whose friendly disposition, small size and acute sense of smell make them ideal sleuths to inspect airport luggage conveyors and carousels, post office sorting belts, vehicles at border checkpoints and warehouses. The dogs and handlers that pass muster over the 10- to 13-week training join the elite Beagle Brigade teams operated by the USDA’s Animal & Plant Inspection Services assigned to stations across the country. Their mission is now part of Homeland Security and some dogs are stationed overseas.
Butler Builder Rooker Co., Tucker, Ga., built the complex that is leased for 20 years to the USDA. The developer gained the inside track for the opportunity by having a site that met the required proximity to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, whose numerous international flights provide the dogs a real-world training environment beyond the simulations at the USDA center.
The USDA requested voluntary adherence to the federal government’s Sustainable Design Program that is based on the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program. The design-built project delivery helped control the schedule and costs. The project utilized Kansas City, Mo.-based Butler Manufacturing’s Widespan structural framing and MR-24 standing-seam metal roof system. Beta Design Group, Boca Raton, Fla., provided architectural design services.
LEED Gold certification credits were for project management, materials and operational systems, including site improvements, water conservation, recycling of construction waste and the recycled content of the Butler metal building systems and other sidewall materials that produced energy-
efficient building envelopes for the air-conditioned facilities. An Indoor Air Quality Management Plan controlled airborne contamination during construction and facilitated the buildings’ flush-out during commissioning prior to occupancy. More than 470 tons (423 metric tons) of construction waste was diverted from landfills; 64 percent of the installed materials were manufactured and sourced from within a 500-mile (800-km) radius of the campus. The Butler metal building systems contain a cumulative recycled content of 31 percent. State-of-the-art Energy Management System and CO2 sensors; advanced interior lighting controlled by occupancy sensors and programmable dark sky exterior lighting fixtures; and HVAC systems fitted with energy-
recovery wheels and electronic controls provide an unusual 15 air exchanges per hour. These elements, combined with low-VOC finishes and the facilities operations program collectively contribute to a high-quality indoor environment.
The project infrastructure reflects measures ranging from bicycle racks with related showers and changing room facilities to preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles and carpoolers. Additionally, the project team maximized green space with stormwater quality control that incorporates both an oversized detention pond and 40,000 gallons (152,000 L) of underground storage for collected rainwater that is drawn for toilet flushings and kennel washing. Butler’s Cool Roof reflective coating was specified for the metal roof, along with light-colored concrete to reduce the heat island effect.
The master plan calls for an eventual 128,000-square-foot
(11,891-m2) complex with nine buildings ranging in size from 8,000 to more than 60,000 square feet (743 to 5,574 m2). USDA needed seven buildings-approximately 100,000 square feet (9,290 m2)-at the outset with uses that range from a quarantine facility to a veterinary clinic, kennels, administration/training building and agility conditioning.
Butler Manufacturing., www.butlermfg.com
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/leed-gold-certified-dog-training-center/