editorial

Going Green

Public buildings and projects should be environmentally friendly

printed in the Daily Press 

December 8, 2006 – There will be lots of building going on around here, paid for by the public. It should all be designed in a way that does the public the most good - by keeping energy and water use to a minimum and preventing runoff that threatens rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

There will be new schools in James City County, a new sports facility and schools and condos in Hampton and who knows what at Fort Monroe. Development along Newport News' waterfront and its northern regions. A new education school at William and Mary. Maybe a library in Gloucester.

Whether built by a locality or the state or as part of a deal between one of those and a private partner, they should all be green. The green vibe can go even further if localities make it clear that private projects that need rezoning or special-use permits will be smiled on more kindly if they're environmentally friendly. Think of it as a kind of green proffer.

While there are a few bright spots - Poquoson's new elementary school comes to mind - too many opportunities to up the green quotient have been lost: with High Street in Williamsburg and New Town in James City County, the construction at Christopher Newport University and the Jamestown Settlement and Eastern State Hospital, the police headquarters in Newport News, the school administration building and convention center in Hampton. The list could go on.

While these projects are no doubt more energy efficient than buildings in the past, that's not the point. State agencies and localities could and should have insisted that all of them reach a higher standard for minimizing the impact on the environment. Localities doing deals with private partners - Newport News with Asheton and Hampton with the residential projects downtown - could and should have insisted on the same. Middlesex County could have made the Rosegill development more palatable if its design were decidedly green.

Do green features cost more? Sometimes. But so do nongreen buildings, by demanding electricity from coal-fired plants that spew toxins in the air and contribute to global warming. By adding to the push to find and mine new sources of natural gas - off our coasts. By adding to the pollution and sediment that run off into waterways when land that should be absorbing rain is covered with impervious roofs and parking lots.

Green buildings save money, too: on energy, on new water sources and treatment plants.

What features should the public be insisting on? They include geothermal heating and air conditioning. Solar panels to convert sunshine into electricity. Extensive use of recycled materials and recycled water. Designs to maximize natural light and natural ventilation and minimize energy use and loss. Green roofs - literally: planted with vegetation that absorbs rainwater. Apparatus to capture that water for nonpotable needs. Landscaping that doesn't need watering. Parking that minimizes impervious surfaces.

The new elementary school in Poquoson will use groundwater for heating and cooling, a roof that reduces energy demands, a design that floods interiors with natural light. That's all welcome, especially in a school.

Given the state of the planet we're going to hand over to our children, the least we must do is teach them to be more appreciative and protective of it than we have been. The school's design, with sections devoted to different water-based habitats and rooms named for native species, is true to both its educational mission and Poquoson's water-rich geography. Outside, the native plants and wetlands - sustained with captured rainwater - make a lot more environmental and instructional sense than the usual school landscaping.

Localities across the nation have adopted policies and priorities that encourage green buildings. They're leaders in creating distinctive, livable, responsible, sustainable communities. The kind we can be, if we make those choices.

VMDO Architects was founded in 1976 and is youngest firm to receive the T. David Fitz-Gibbon Virginia Architecture Award, the most prestigious honor given by the Virginia Society of American Institute of Architects.