GREEN BUILDING

For more information: Susan Trien, 585-410-6359, strien@strongmuseum.org

Overview: Strong LEED Accreditation Components

Strong National Museum of Play® is going “green.” The museum’s $37 million expansion nearly doubles the size of the museum and is in compliance with the latest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System®. The architectural design, construction, energy systems, and management practices are in keeping with the LEED environmental conservation standards. Highlights of the expanded museum include two exciting new exhibits, a revamped and expanded National Toy Hall of Fame®, and Upstate New York’s first and only indoor butterfly garden. Following is a summary of activities completed by Strong National Museum of Play® toward LEED Accreditation compliance:

• Engaged a LEED Accredited Professional as part of the project team to ensure the design integration required by a Green Building project and to streamline the process toward certification.

• Installed Energy Star compliant, highly reflective roofing to reduce thermal gradient differences between developed and undeveloped areas (heat island effect) to minimize the impact on human and wildlife habitat.

• Specified exterior and interior lighting to eliminate light trespass from the building and site, thus improving night sky visibility.

• Installed high-efficiency irrigation technology to limit the use of potable water for landscape irrigation. • Employed aerators, low flow lavatories, and flush valves that use 20% less water, thus maximizing the water efficiency in the building to reduce the burden on municipal water supply and wastewater systems.

• Implementation of building systems commissioning that verifies and ensures that the fundamental building elements and systems are designed, installed, and calibrated to perform as intended.

• Specified zero use of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon)-based refrigerants in heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems.

• Designed mechanical systems that reduce energy cost by 20% and achieve a level of energy performance above the New York State Energy Conservation Code, thus reducing environmental impacts associated with excessive energy use.

• Created and implemented a Construction Waste Management Plan that diverted 50% of construction, demolition, and land-clearing debris from landfill disposal, thus redirecting reusable materials back to the manufacturing stream.

• Specified products such as acoustical ceiling tile, steel, insulation, and concrete with fly ash additive that contained recycled content, thus reducing the environmental impacts resulting from extraction and processing of virgin materials.

• Used materials that incorporate recycled content in ceiling tiles, carpeting, cement, etc.

• Specified materials and products that were extracted and manufactured within the region, thus supporting the regional economy and reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation (for example, excavating and crushing bedrock on site for re-use).

• Developed and implemented an Indoor Air Quality Management Plan for the construction and preoccupancy phases to prevent indoor air quality problems resulting from the construction/renovation process to help sustain the comfort and well-being of building occupants.

• Reduced indoor air contaminants that are odorous, potentially irritating, and harmful to building occupants by purchasing adhesives, sealants, and paints with low VOC (volatile organic chemicals) content, and carpet systems that exceed the requirements of the Green Label Indoor Air Quality Test Program to minimize damage to the environment.

• Developed green housekeeping/cleaning practices using environmentally preferable (green-certified) cleaning products to reduce the exposure of building occupants and maintenance personnel to potentially hazardous chemical contaminants that adversely impact air quality, occupant well-being, and the environment.

• Purchased materials from suppliers and vendors within a 500-mile radius to reduce pollution caused by trucking long distances.

• Maintained good air quality through ventilation and filtration efficiency and avoidance of wood with formaldehyde resin. • Improved air quality by prohibiting smoking on the premises, indoors and out.

• Developed an exhibit and educational outreach program to instruct school-age children, and their families, about the sustainable building elements that were applied at the museum.

The U.S. Green Building Council is the nation’s foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work.

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System® is a voluntary standards and certification program that defines high-performance green buildings, which are more environmentally responsible, healthier, and more profitable structures.

To learn more about LEED requirements, visit http://www.usgbc.org