udy: Debs Park, California | AndyPosner.org thanks for this post!
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Posted by Max on 04/06 at 05:12 PM
Case Study: Debs Park, California
Written on 11/21 at 10:11 PM by Andy Posner
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Filed under: brown
Note: I wrote this paper for a class at Brown called Sustainability in the Built Environment The Audubon Society has plans to build "hundreds of urban nature centers. . .by the year 2020" with the aim of "bring[ing] nature to those inner-city children with few opportunities to leave the city. . ."1 Thus when it came time to build the first of these centers at Debs Park, located 10 minutes from downtown Los Angeles, the Society wanted something that would capture its ideals and values and create a model for future development. In order to do so, the design team started with the objective of creating a building "that complemented the landscape, blend[ed] into the environment" and focused the visitor's attention on the nature trails, courtyard and Children's Garden. Yet while sustainability was a high priority from the start, the decision to seek LEED Platinum status wasn't made until a donor made a contribution specifically for that purpose. Ironically, the donation freed the designers to pursue an entirely off the grid, or building, by forcing them to meet LEED's stringent criteria. The Center's unique geographical location enabled it to be in a natural setting while remaining close enough to urban centers to be relevant and accessible to large groups of people. This is because the 17 acre site, situated in the 282-acre Debs park, is only .25 miles from a freeway, half a mile from a light rail station, and within walking distance of 30,000 school children. At the same time, however, the center is sufficiently isolated from electricity, natural gas and sewer lines (1/4 mile) to justify generating all of its energy, as well as treating all of its wastewater, onsite, without adding significantly to the cost of the project. Indeed, the final cost was only 5-7% higher than that of a conventional project, despite the fact that the Center boasts, among other things, a 23 KW PV array, a 269 DC KwH battery bank, the first "completely solar-cooled [HVAC] system in Southern California," two solar water heaters, and extensive wastewater treatment systems.
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