Orr's Island, ME

Bowdoin College, Schiller Coastal Studies Center

Scope/Solutions
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Project Summary

Scope/Solutions

Bowdoin College’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center, comprising 118 acres of coastal spruce-pine forest and 5 mi of coastline, serves as a living laboratory for research and learning. After receiving a $10 million gift from the Schillers, the college undertook a project to expand the center by constructing a new dry lab, Living & Learning building, and four residential cabins. SGH provided building enclosure consulting services for all six buildings and served as the project’s Passive House Institute US Verifier (PHIUS+ Verifier) for the Living & Learning building.

SGH collaborated with the project team on the design and construction of the building enclosure. As the PHIUS+ Verifier, we also conducted and witnessed performance testing for the Living & Learning building.

Highlights of our work include the following:

Reviewed the building enclosure design and provided recommendations for improving energy efficiency, airtightness, watertightness, and constructability
Helped detail transitions to reduce thermal bridging and air leakage as required for PHIUS+ certification
Established PHIUS+ performance requirements, roles and responsibilities, testing protocol, and procedures for documenting progress and issues
Reviewed enclosure-related submittals and provided recommendations to ensure the building enclosure systems met the overall project design intent and performance requirements
Observed construction of the building enclosure and mechanical systems, conducted an infrared survey of exterior walls and roofs, and performed whole-building airtightness testing to compare with PHIUS+ certification and project requirements
Witnessed testing and balancing of the mechanical system, verified air flows met PHIUS+ certification requirements, and reported power consumption to the Passive House Design consultant
Prepared a PHIUS+ on-site verification package for submission to PHIUS