The facility, located on a 2.65-acre brownfield site, spans 24,350 square feet. It sports a contemporary style comprising old-barn wood siding, ample windows, as well as a rooftop garden. It has been built to be a net-zero energy and water usage building.
The facility will provide all of its own water by collecting rainfall and with the use of aquifers. The seven million gallons of surplus water annually purified by the facility will suffice irrigation needs of the gardens of Phipps.
The centre will also generate its own power. The education, administration and research complex has been fitted with a solar-photovoltaic panels which produce 124 kilowatts of electricity. Installation of the 5-kilowatt vertical-axis wind turbine along with 14 geothermal wells will help provide more power.
The facility employs various other measures to bring a reduction in its energy needs such as passive heating, cooling and lighting, the rooftop garden, a large atrium, and ventilation. These, coupled with high-performance air-conditioning system and triple-pane windows cuts down its energy needs by 80%.
The building will seek LEED Platinum from the US Green Building Council and landscape certification from Sustainable Sites Initiative.
