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A First & last: Floating LEED Certified Building

Posted by Carbon Design on Thu, Nov 05, 2015

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Cottonwood Cove may be the only LEED certified building on water... EVER NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE:

We have highlighted a number of LEED Certified buildings on our website. We have residential, commercial, non-profit, and more. However, this new project is the first and possibly the only floating, LEED certified building in The United States!

 

It's called Cottonwood Cove, and although we designed it here in Sarasota, Florida, it's located in Nevada.

 

Some other projects that you might find interesting:



COTTONWOOD COVE OVERVIEW:

There is a little project in our portfolio that you may not have noticed, but has an interesting story. 

 

Cottonwood Cove Marina is located in Seachlight NV, on Lake Mohave, and is a part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The Cottonwood Cove project is a LEED-NC Gold Certified Facility.  It provides marine related services out on the water and is connect to the dock system of the marina.  It floats!  It is not set on piers or piles.  It is anchored like a boat is anchored, so it sits in one place and does not drift around.  Check out the project featured on the client’s web site, which can be found HERE. The project was certified in 2013. 

 

Come check out the 1st and likely last floating LEED certified building in the US

Starting from the waterline up, the project has a giant raft for a foundation system.  Similar to how floating docks are constructed, there is a multitude of pontoon floats that support a structural steel bar joist floor system.  The wall system and roof system are Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) and some structural steel framing.  The SIPs were chosen because of the modular construction process and ability to fabricate the panels off site.  Another key component of the wall system was the weight.  This is the first and only project we have done that the weight of the walls and roof was a critical component of the design.  Because the raft foundation had to support the building, limiting the weight of the superstructure saved money in ways that are not typical.   The geometry of the building design takes into account the capabilities and limitations of the SIP wall and roof panels to provide an efficient and beautifully functional design solution.  The ability to fabricate building components off site, assemble the building at the shore line and then move it into place, all helped to reduce the environmental impact of the construction process on the lake itself.  

 

Those familiar with LEED know there is a site prerequisite for Construction Activity Pollution prevention.  In our case, we did have a small piece of land that was part of our defined “project site” under LEED, and we were able to use green marina standards and marina pollution control standards to comply with the prerequisite.  Interestingly, after we were certified, LEED set out a new rule that does not allow projects to be built on water any longer.  They must be permanent structure on land now.  That is why this may be the only LEED certified project on the water.

 

Challenges: The location itself had many challenges.  The site is located about 2-1/2 hours south of Las Vegas, and is south of the Hoover Dam.  The client was fully committed to the idea, which is always the best way. The entire design team was on board.   The National Park Services was on board.  We did have difficulty finding an experienced contractor that was interested in doing such a small project at such a remote location.

 

The climate was also a bit of a challenge, and an opportunity.  The dry desert climate is much different than the sub-tropical climate of Florida.  There was almost no rainfall, and no humidity.  That made a cistern impossible, but does allow the building to utilize operable windows for passive cooling.  With LEED, energy savings is energy savings.  How the savings are achieved are adapted to the climate in which the project exists.  We have now done green buildings in Northern climates, sub-tropical climates and Desert climates, and enjoy the opportunities and challenges different climates present to the projects.

 



A REAL SUCCESS:

With a dedicated team of Owner’s, the National Park Service, architects and engineers, a contractor willing to learn, and an experienced LEED administrator (Ausonio) the project has been a big success and received a good deal of press, both on TV and in print.

 

To see more details, take a look at this one of many examples of our world class, sustainable architecture work.



 

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Topics: LEED Certified Building

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