(Washington, DC) - The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services’ (DYRS) New Beginnings Youth Development Facility, located in Laurel, Maryland, has been awarded LEED Gold Certification by the United States Green Building Council this week. District law requires new facilities to be built as LEED Silver or better. New Beginnings is the second District project to exceed that requirement and is the first Department of Real Estate Services (DRES) project to achieve LEED certification. New Beginnings is also the first youth committed facility in the United States to achieve LEED Gold certification.
"The District is excited to promote environmentally friendly construction and design," said Robin-Eve Jasper, Director of the Department of Real Estate Services. “Green buildings are better for the environment and have the potential to save thousands of taxpayer dollars over the lifecycle of the building. They also provide the tenants with an improved working environment."
New Beginnings is a 60 bed, 90,000 square foot, state of the art campus on 15 acres of land, located in Laurel, Maryland. The facility includes three housing units, gymnasium and a warehouse, and a campus building that contains admissions, medical suite, food service and dining, theater, student commons, academic and vocational training, as well as administrative offices. The facility also includes 147 parking spaces, a courtyard with basketball courts and a recreation yard with a baseball diamond, football field and track. The District retained Tompkins/Hardi joint venture with AECOM to be their design-build contractor. Construction was completed in Spring 2009.
“This designation of LEED Gold Certification represents a significant accomplishment for our agency and our partners in the construction of this facility,” said Marc Schindler, Interim Director of DYRS. “Having an environmentally friendly facility means a superior working environment for our staff, which means better overall care for the youth that we serve each day and ultimately improved public safety for our communities.”
LEED is a third-party certification program established by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED certifications serve as a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
The green components of the New Beginnings Youth Correctional Facility include:
*Bicycle racks, shower and changing facilities
*Priority designated parking spaces for Hybrid/Electric and Carpool vehicles
*Highly reflective White Roof to minimize the Heat Island Effect and building energy load
*Conservation and restoration of 75 percent of the site by planting native vegetation to provide habitat for wildlife and promote bio diversity
*33 percent reduction in potable water use compared to a baseline building standard
*Full Commissioning to ensure that the HVAC System is installed and operating correctly
*Diversion of 65 percent of construction debris from a landfill
*68 percent of the building’s materials were sourced within 500 miles of the project site
*31 percent of the building’s materials were manufactured using recycled materials