Maryvale Community Center
Topline Summary:
- Maryvale, one of the first post-World War II master-planned housing communities, was in need of a renewal
- As a publicly-funded project, the architect was challenged with designing an environmentally responsible building that was also cost-effective
- Using JM Formaldehyde-free™ insulation not only meets sustainability standards, but will also provide cost savings in the short and long term
Situation:
The City of Phoenix, which recently required that some new public buildings adhere to LEED (Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design) design principles, was looking to re-invigorate Maryvale Park. The master-planned community, which includes an elementary and middle schools, community hospital, post office, public park and pool, desperately needed a renovation of its epicenter, which includes the Maryvale Community Center and Palo Verde Library.
The city decided to replace the old buildings and create a new single mixed-use building, containing both the library and community center. Gould Evans Associates, L.C. + Wendell Burnette Architects were charged with designing an environmentally responsible building while keeping construction costs to a minimum.
Solution:
With a goal of allowing the site and landscape to remain the "green" heart of Maryvale, the architects took care to specify building products that incorporate "green" building principles.
The floor tiles in high maintenance areas will be made from recycled rubber tires; walls are to be made from oriented strand board (OSB), a pressed wood panel made of recycled wood chips from lumber mill waste piles; and library floors will be cork, since cork trees provide a renewable resource as their barks are stripped every 9-14 years.
When it came to specifying insulation, the architects knew they wanted to use formaldehyde-free because of its environmental benefits. "We needed to make sure whatever we chose would have thermal and acoustical benefits, and that it promoted good indoor air quality with no off-gassing," said Wendell Burnette, one of the two principal architects in charge of design.
Having recently learned of Johns Manville Formaldehyde-free, the architects decided to give the unfaced insulation product a try.
"It turns out this isn't just the right thing to do, it's the logical and affordable thing to do since we don't need to buy additional fabric facing or take extra time having people install it," explained Burnette.
Results:
Although the building isn't set to begin construction until July 2003, an exhibit about the project and the "green" building principles incorporated in the planning is underway at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, including a feature of Johns Manville Formaldehyde-free fiber glass building insulation.
"I definitely plan to specify this product from now on," said Burnette. "I see sustainable building as a movement in the marketplace; the more we build this way, the more it will be accepted as the norm."
