Tuesday April 12, we visited the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Annopolis headquarters, known as the Philip Merrill Environmental Centre. 

The building is rated as “Platinum” standard for energy efficiency , and although a decade old is still considered the most energy efficient in USA.  Sustainability features of the building include:

• passive thermal design to optimise solar heat gain in winter and minimise heat gain in summer, insulation of ceilings, floors and walls, summer shading by the use of trellises and louvers, draft protection.
• use of natural recycled materials with low embodied energy
• Solar PV electricity supply
• Solar hot water
• Rainwater collection & use
• Stormwater systems including manmade wetlands and porous pavements to polish water and reduce overland flow.
• Composting toilets
• Geothermal heat pumps to maintain internal comfort temperatures

The latter is a novel feature takes advantage of the earth’s ambient temperature of around 54 degrees. Forty-eight 300 foot deep wells into the earth serve as a heat exchanger for the entire building. This is a different approach to the use of internal thermal mass such as brick and concrete which is more common.  But with the local temperature extremes and the size of the building one can see the advantages of this system.

The facility was built by the community with donations. It now serves as an environmental education hub, and as a base to administer programs to environmentally rehabilitate Chesapeake Bay.

A very interesting building indeed, and a great example of the power of community volunteers to effect positive environmental outcomes!