hile the Barnes Foundation is best known for its and a senior associate with New York firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. “The $150-million building on the Ben Franklin Parkway— ipê wood floor is there partially to warm the space up and its founding mission extended beyond the man-made make it feel more intimate, but it’s also an extremely hard wonders hanging on the walls to the natural beauty wood that’s very good for the kinds of activities that happen outside of them. The recent relocation has left most of the Barnes’ there. During the day there’s lots of groups passing into the horticultural program behind at its previous home in Merion, but collections gallery, and during the evening it hosts events, the new digs were designed and built using sustainable practices and the floor is developing a really nice patina as more fully in line with that original green vision. people walk on it and drop glasses on it.” The design specified no- or “When we acquired this parcel of land, a porherringbone-patterned ipê wood floor reclaimed low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) products, tion of which was in Fairmount Park, we had a from the Coney Island boardwalks. Forest Stewardship Council certified woods and “We very strongly believe in an aesthetic of recycled products. Ninety-eight percent of ponew mayor [Mayor Michael Nutter] who was promoting sustainable issues in both design and good design, not just an aesthetic of sustainable tentially reusable materials were reclaimed from construction,” says William McDowell, senior design,” says Philip Ryan, Barnes’ project manager the Youth Study Center, the juvenile detention building project director. “So, we did it to satisfy our obligations under our lease with the city, but it took on a life of its own... And we…think it resulted in a better building.” In late August, the Barnes was awaiting confirmation of LEED Platinum certification—the highest rating granted by the U.S. Green Building Council. If granted, the museum would become the third museum in the country to achieve the rating. It was actually at the urging of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council (DVGBC) that the Barnes even sought LEED certification, explains McDowell. “Early on, we felt that we were going to go ahead and do all these things anyway, but were debating whether or not it was worth it to formalize the process,” says McDowell. “The DVGBC convinced us that it was important for our project to be tracked officially both by them and by the national organization so that it becomes something that Philadelphia can promote itself with.” Highlights of the Barnes’ sustainable design include a green roof on the L-shaped Pavilion building; a 40,000-gallon cistern that collects rainwater from that roof for landscape irrigation; 12,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Light Canopy that provide eight percent of the building’s electricity; and a
W
priceless art collection—which now resides in a new
DELAWARE VALLEY GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL 2012 | GREENPRINT | 7