Arlington County’s first net-zero energy building—the Lubber Run Community Center—was constructed on a 4.5-acre site that includes outdoor recreational space with a connection to nature and a strong sense of place, the project team says. The $41-million project required building a 60,000-sq-ft structure with a 50,000-sq-ft underground parking garage, outdoor courts and other recreational spaces and amenities.

仔细的规划基地lowed MCN and VNDO Architects to preserve 74% of the existing trees and harvest wood from 22 trees that were downed for construction.

Working in a guaranteed maximum price delivery, MCN Build made value-engineering recommendations that cut costs without negatively impacting the program space. The project was over budget at first. But the team found that by working with Arlington County and VMDO Architects, it was able to modify the two-story parking garage design into a one-story structure with a larger footprint without changing the number of parking spaces. That saved more than $5 million because redesigning with one story saved significantly on the amount of concrete needed for the structure.

One judge was impressed by the project team’s concept-specific community engagement process, including a series of public workshops that gave feedback to promote equity, access, public health and sustainability. He liked how project officials gathered cross-generational voices to help shape the design of these limited spaces. “As an architect,” he said, “I don’t know how much more you can do than what they are listing here. That’s exceptional.”

该建筑取代了1950年代的社区设施，包括室内体育馆，健身中心和多功能房间，用于周围空间上的娱乐场所，并保留了许多景观和树木。保存自然和开放空间是当务之急，因此一些元素位于地下。由于足迹有限，公园被放置在停车场的顶部。这需要巨大的防水工作。这也是一个结构性的挑战，因为建立公园“感觉”要求在混凝土板和地面之间进行充足的缓冲。该小组决定使用轻质的地理奶酪代替土壤将缓冲式支撑到公园水平。

LEED金靶的净零即准备的结构包括重型木质胶状柱，横梁，双pur骨和舌沟木板。该团队使用了高效的MEP系统和不寻常的Heartawall系统来提高能量性能，同时减少材料数量。铣削后使用了在施工过程中砍伐的树木，并覆盖了内部的主要循环道路。

Roof drains were required for all of the buildings to prevent water accumulation. All roof rainwater is collected in the “valley” of the main building’s roof, then funneled into a large drainpipe. The rainwater then falls through a filtration system in the garage. After most particulates are filtered out, the water moves into the irrigation cistern where it irrigates the park’s lawn. “Generally I thought they did a good job with the site,” another judge said. “It looked like the craftwork was done well.”