The 2,664 square foot bank in Springfield, MA was designed to incorporate innovative green features following the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) New Construction 2.2 standards which will minimize the bank’s environmental impact. The Bank incorporates numerous sustainable features into the site and building design. Watch a video about the new PeoplesBank building.

Site Design

Selection of a site that is in a previously developed area was important to the bank.  Its urban location provides the employees access to community amenities within walking distance of the bank. The site was originally nearly covered in asphalt paving.   To improve the site, impervious surfaces were minimized, parking was reduced as much as possible and the green space was increased.  

Building Design

PeoplesBank has created branded image with their branch banks.  The building was designed to integrate this image and incorporate green design features.  The look of their traditional gable roof was maintained by building a hip roof with a hidden flat roof to house the mechanical units.  The roof pitch was increased and the materials were specified to allow minimal heat gain while maintaining the client’s traditional aesthetics.

Traditional materials like brick, and wood trim were required to maintain the branded image of the bank.  All efforts were made to specify and acquire materials regionally.  Another requirement was that the windows be large enough for people see the activity in the bank.  The windows were strategically placed to allow views and daylight to nearly every room.  The windows were specified to be effective against solar heat gain, high u-value, and enough transparent enough to be acceptable to the owner.  The offices and custom millwork were designed to encourage recycling.  The traditional cathedral ceiling in the lobby was reduced by flattening the interior ceiling pitch to decrease volume of the thermal envelope.  The vestibule size was increased to add a longer walk off area to help maintain cleaner floors.

Energy

The bank is estimated to have an annual energy cost of 22% less than ASHRAE 90.1 standards. The majority of the energy savings are the result of:

1. HVAC equipment that meets or exceeds LEED efficiency ratings with the following enhancements:
   1. Demand Control Ventilation with Carbon Dioxide (CO2) sensors in occupied spaces to control the volume and energy utilized for fresh air temperament without compromising air quality. The HVAC controls have been set to provide 30% more fresh air than is required by LEED for enhanced indoor air quality through the use of CO2 detection.
   2. Dual Enthalpy Economizer providing free air cooling by modulating the outdoor air damper to maintain indoor air temperature and humidity for occupant comfort, saving on refrigerant compressor energy usage. The economizer and power exhaust fan also purge the building of any odor buildup during 100% fresh air intake operation.
   3. Zoned Temperature Controls allowing each space it’s own temperature set-points to be adjusted and maintained by the central HVAC system.
2. Lighting utilizing high efficiency fluorescent light fixtures with the following enhancements:
   1. Automatic occupancy sensors with ambient light shutdown of light fixtures when natural sunlight is available for private offices.
   2. Automatic time clock controls for turning off common area lighting at the end of each business day.
   3. Photocell and time-clock controls for outdoor light fixtures that have zero glare cutoff with light baffle enhancement for the elimination of light pollution spillage to neighboring properties.

The performance of the HVAC equipment has been optimized using units with an ARI rating of 15  EER; the average base case performance is 13 EER. Wall and roof insulation has been increased above the requirements of the local code; exterior walls include 1 inch of continuous insulation and 6 inches of fiberglass (assembly R-value of R-27) while the roof has 6 inches of polyisocyanurate insulation (assembly R-value of R-38).

Parking lot lighting power density of 0.12 W/ft² is 20% lower than the lighting power density allowed under ASHRAE 90.1-2004 (0.15 W/ft²). The bank’s use of a reflective roof system will lessen the impact of the heat island effect which affects the public health, environment and energy usage.

Green power has been purchased for the project to offset 70% of the design energy cost for the project for 2 years.

Water

Water conservation was an important goal for this project .The project provides highly efficient irrigation for plantings and carefully selected native plant material.  The design uses 59.3% less water than the base case, saving 19,858 gallons of water per year.

Storm water management strategies resulted in a 25% reduction of post development storm water runoff in addition to managing and treating 90% of the rainfall on site.

Building Water conservation practices including highly efficient low flow fixtures; sinks lavatories, water closets and showers helped PeoplesBank to achieve water reduction savings of approximately 43.9 % per the EPA standard, the Energy Policy Act of 1992, saving 4,598 gallons of water per year.

Indoor Air Quality

The bank interior will have LEED compliant carpet, paints adhesives and sealants all which contain low levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in order to provide healthy indoor air quality for employees and customers, and a “low VOC” Green cleaning program using cleaning materials approved by the Greenseal program.

Increased ventilation and Co2 monitoring, in addition to the regulation of indoor pollutant source control will further help maintain occupant health. The thermal comfort design and access to controls also help employees regulate comfort in their work areas.

Credits: BankatPeople's, World News