Brock Environmental Center Overview:
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Industry: Education
General Contractor: Hourigan Construction
Contract Amount: $1,000,000

Project Description:
Designed to achieve net zero energy consumption and zero water use/runoff, this one-story, 10,000 square foot educational facility aims to be the first LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge (LBC) certified project in Virginia – serving as a model for future sustainable buildings and inspiring younger generations with environmental awareness.

Project Details:

Rain cisterns and a filtering system make the Brock Environmental Center the first project in the U.S. to receive a commercial permit for drinking filtered/treated rainwater in accordance with the federal drinking water requirements. In fact, the center uses rainwater for all its water needs.

The project is also designed to use a geo thermal well field, relying on stable temperatures below ground to create a heat source in winter and a heat sink in summer. These design features will reduce energy use of a typical building of this size by 70%, with the remaining 30% made up by photo-voltaic panels installed on the roof and by two wind turbines.   The architects confirmed that use of wind turbines on this site presents no impact on the native bird populations.

On hot windy days, the Foundation will sell power back to Dominion Virginia Power (the meter will run backwards!), and, on winter days, it will buy needed power. The result will be “net-zero” energy use measured annually.