11-30-08: Duke Marine Lab building gets 'green' award

(c) 2008 Carteret County News-Times

Staff Report

BEAUFORT — Duke University announced Tuesday the Duke University Ocean Conservation Center at the Duke University Marine Lab (DUML) here, designed by Frank Harmon, architect PA of Raleigh, has been awarded the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

LEED is the national benchmark for high performance “green” buildings. The 5,600-square-foot center in Carteret County is Duke’s only LEED Gold certified building, and Mr. Harmon was able to design it to that standard of environmental responsibility and conservation thanks to a grant from the Wallace Genetic Foundation.

Dr. Cindy Van Dover, director of the lab, said Wednesday the lab staff is very proud of receiving LEED certification and of their conservation center.

“It’s a reflection of where we are and where we want to go,” she said, “keeping the environment front and center in our daily lives.”

Completed in 2006, the Ocean Conservation Center uses geothermal pumps for heating and cooling, solar panels for hot water and photovoltaic rooftop panels for converting sunlight into electricity. Mr. Harmon used local building materials (yellow southern pine and Atlantic white cedar) and recycled wood throughout the structure.

Other eco-friendly features include an abundance of operable windows for natural lighting and ventilation, deep roof overhangs to keep the sun off the windows, permeable sidewalks, a zinc roof designed to last 100 years and to reflect heat, and native landscaping.

Dr. Van Dover said the conservation center is the lab’s center for teaching.

“We used it for labs and lectures,” she said. “It’s also our favorite public building; we hold public lectures there.” 

The center houses a teaching laboratory, a 48-seat lecture hall with advanced teleconferencing and videoconferencing capabilities to connect to classrooms and research labs around the globe, and a glass-enclosed commons area.

Mr. Harmon has designed many LEED-certified buildings, including the Botanical Gardens Visitors Center under construction now at UNC-Chapel Hill. He designed that building to receive LEED Platinum certification, the highest level in the certification program.

The center isn’t the only green feature at the lab, or on the island it shares with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research.

Dr. Van Dover said The Green Wave, a student environmental conservation group at the lab, built a small compost center at the lab for the island.

“We’ll have a small garden to produce herbs for the kitchen,” she said.

Future environmental plans at the lab include working with NOAA on a master stormwater control plan. The lab is also working on the concept phase for a new research building.

For more information on Mr. Harmon and his work, visit www.frankharmon.com.

For more information on Duke’s Ocean Conservation Center, visit www.nicholas.duke.edu.

Reporter Mike Shutak contributed to this article.