The Buzzards Bay Center
The following are excerpts from a brochure sent to us by Mark Rasmussen, president The Coalition for Buzzards Bay.
New Bedford, MA – The green rehabilitation of the historic Coggeshall Counting House in New Bedford’s Waterfront Historic District and National Park into the “Buzzards Bay Center” by The Coalition for Buzzards Bay will expand regional awareness of the challenges facing the Bay and engage people in environmental issues.
From the recycling of a dilapidated city building all the way up to its green roof and solar panels, the Buzzard Bay Center will serve as a model and practical demonstration of environmentally-sustainable renovation and reuse for all of southeastern Massachusetts.
Guided by historic photographs and records, the exterior façade will be restored to its former beauty.
Integrating Bay protection and green building design into the maritime history and fishing stories of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the “Richard C. Wheeler Bay Learning Center” on the building’s
ground floor will be open to the public and feature exhibits about Buzzards Bay and how everyone can participate in its stewardship.
The “David Emerson Riggs Lab” will provide water quality laboratory and workspace to support Baywide environmental monitoring programs and engage volunteers directly in Bay and watershed science.
On the building’s top floor, meeting space for educational and community programs and a library containing scientific and historical information about Buzzards Bay and its watershed will become a regional resource.
The “greenest” feature of the Buzzards Bay Center won’t be able to be seen by visitors.
• Dense closed-cell spray foam insulation separates the exterior brick and granite walls from the interior walls. Nearly eight inches of insulation will cap the building and is further complemented by the insulating effect of the vegetated roof. All thermal and air barriers are continuous throughout the space resulting in a super “tight” envelope.
• Offset-stud framing within the densely insulated walls eliminates the “thermal bridge” created by attaching interior walls to the exterior masonry walls.
• Double-glazed windows (argon-insulated, low emissivity) are used throughout the building, even though the windows selected are also historically-accurate.
• Electric heating and air-conditioning will be provided by highly-efficient, state-of-the-art Air Source Heat Pumps.
The end result is expected to be a building that requires only 65% of the electricity used in a typical commercial building. on the roof, hidden behind the restored cornice, a vegetated “green” roof will absorb up to 50% of the rain runoff during storms. Photovoltaic panels on the roof will convert sunlight to 3.6Kw approximately 8% of the building’s total electricity needs.
Low VOC paints and finishes, LEED-Certified carpeting, energy-recapture ventilation systems, and operable windows ensure fresh, clean air throughout the building.
All interior finish woodwork will be from sustainably-harvested forests in southeastern Massachusetts. Southern Yellow Pine support beams removed from the basement will be remilled and reused in the building as hardwood flooring and ceiling boards. Behind the walls, framing studs are all harvested
The builder is Bufftree Building Co. The architect -Richard Renner, Construction manager-W.W. Reich, Green Design Consultant – EnergySmiths
