Woods Hole Research Center's Gilman Ordway Campus participates in annual Green Building Open House

For immediate release

On Saturday, October 2nd, the Woods Hole Research Center will again participate in the Green Buildings Open House. Tours of the Center’s Gilman Ordway Campus at 149 Woods Hole Road will take place from noon to 4 p.m.

Completed in 2003, the building was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as one of this year’s top ten green buildings in the U.S. and earned a first place in the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association 2004 Green Building Awards. The Green Building Open House is sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association and is held in conjunction with the American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour. These two overlapping events include private homes and a wide range of commercial and institutional buildings using a variety of forms of renewable energy and green building technologies and materials.

The Woods Hole Research Center is a scientific, policy, and educational institution. The Center's mission is to combat global warming and other forms of environmental degradation. In support of this mission, Center staff and trustees employed the firm of William McDonough + Partners to design a building that would serve as a model for 21st century construction in its conservation of energy, purification of wastewater, and use of environmentally safe materials. In terms of energy, there is no onsite combustion of fossil fuels, the primary contributor to global warming.

Among the innovative steps taken to create a “high performance” building are the ground source heat pump and energy recovery units, powered in part by photovoltaic panels. A tight building “envelope” and energy efficient equipment allow for the implementation of these innovations.