This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
ENR logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
ENR logo
  • News
  • Projects
    • Buildings
    • Construction Methods
    • Design
    • Sustainability
    • Transportation
    • Environment
    • Power & Industrial
    • Water & Dams
    • Best Projects
  • Business
    • Safety & Health
    • Workforce
    • Finance
    • Companies
    • Project Delivery
    • Ethics & Corruption
    • Government
    • Risk
    • Pulse
    • Contractor Business Strategy
  • Talent
    • Awards
      • Top 25 Newsmakers
      • Award of Excellence
      • Legacy Award
      • Top Young Professionals
    • Promotions & New Hires
    • Obituaries
    • Annual Photo Contest
  • Regions
    • ENR California
    • ENR MidAtlantic
    • ENR Midwest
    • ENR Mountain States
    • ENR New York
    • ENR New England
    • ENR Northwest
    • ENR Southeast
    • ENR Southwest
    • ENR Texas & Louisiana
    • Regional Contests and Surveys
  • Tech
    • Information Technology
    • Construction Technology
    • BIM
  • Products
    • Equipment
    • Materials
    • Product Snapshot
  • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Editorials
    • Viewpoints
    • Letters
    • Book Reviews
  • Costs
    • Construction Economics Archive
    • Construction Cost Index
    • Building Cost Index
    • Historical Indices
    • Quarterly Cost Reports
    • FAQs
  • Lists
    • ENR Top Lists
    • ENR Sourcebooks
    • Survey Schedule
  • CE Center
  • InfoCenters
    • Disrupt or Be Disrupted
    • Innovations in Waterproofing
    • Planning for Project Perfection
    • Revolutionizing Productivity Safety
    • The Business of Projects
  • Events
    • AEC BuildTech
    • Award of Excellence
    • Best of the Best Project Awards
    • FutureTech
    • Groundbreaking Women in Construction
    • Global Best Projects Awards
    • Port Authority of NY & NJ
    • Regional Best Projects
    • Top 25 Newsmakers
    • Upcoming Events
    • Webinars
  • More
    • Subscription
    • Proposals & Bids
    • Industry Jobs
    • Special Reports
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • Videos
    • Interactive Spotlights
    • Digital Editions
    • Year In Construction Photo Contest
    • Special Advertising Sections
  • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise
Home » Creating a "Poster Building" for Leading-Edge Sustainability
Top 25 NewsmakersAwards2016Talent

Creating a "Poster Building" for Leading-Edge Sustainability

Chesapeake Bay Foundation building

Chesapeake Bay Foundation building, which was finished in late 2014, produces 83% more power than it uses.

PHOTO: PRAKASH PATEL COURTESY SMITHGROUPJJR

January 18, 2017
Nadine M. Post
KEYWORDS ENR Newsmakers / Greg Mella / potable water / rainwater / sustainability
Reprints
No Comments

Greg MellaGreg Mella
Washington, D.C.
ENR 5/30-6/6/16 p. 12
Leading the design team for the first U.S. commercial building permitted to turn rain into drinking  water.


On Aug. 7, 2014, architect Greg Mella, who led the design team for the supersustainable Brock Environmental Center, in Virginia Beach, Va., got hit by a car while he was bicycling home from work in Washington, D.C. The impact, which shattered his right tibial plateau and tore his rotator cuff, occurred about four months before completion of the 10,000-sq-ft Brock center, which is the first commercial building in the U.S. to be permitted to treat rainwater to potable standards.

Mella was on disability for six months and in physical therapy for a year. But he kept working on Brock. He used Skype and his cellphone’s dictation feature to stay in contact with the team. In November, he went to the site. “I did wind up punch-listing the center in a wheelchair,” says the 47-year-old Mella, director of sustainable design for SmithGroupJJR. While Brock is accessible, Mella’s wheelchair tour taught him that exceeding accessibility minimums by as little as an inch can make a big difference to those in wheelchairs.

Mella learns from all his experiences, which he says makes him smarter. One early-career lesson is that architects should stay involved with their buildings after construction is finished and even conduct occupant comfort surveys. By staying engaged with Brock, Mella learned a lesson he is sharing with others. After reports of a metallic taste in the water, an investigation determined that the rainwater, which is intrinsically soft, was corroding the copper pipes. The problem was fixed by adding a water hardener to the stored water.

As a 28-year-old, Mella led the SmithGroup team that designed the first LEED-Platinum building—the Philip Merrill Environmental Center, in Annapolis. Like Brock, the building, which opened in 2001, is owned and occupied by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF).

Brock, with its combo of photovoltaics and wind-turbine energy, produces 83% more power than it uses. Last year, it was designated a Living Building by the International Living Future Institute, which administers a rigorous green-building certification program.

CBF is a satisfied client. “By incorporating his love of nature, his knowledge and his sustainable-design talents into the built environment, Greg is making game-changing differences,” says Mary Tod Winchester, CBF’s vice president for administration and operations. His dedication, especially to Brock during his year of recovery, is “spectacular,” she adds.

Mella last spring became director of sustainable design. His latest campaign, which he says makes Brock look easy, is to change the collective mind-set of his design colleagues at the 1,000-person, multidisciplinary SmithGroupJJR to routinely design buildings with improved performance—whether or not a client asks for it. Mella figures that if practitioners embrace available tools, they can easily increase performance by 5%. “That would be worth 100 Brocks,” he says.

To get to his goal, he is developing some “cool ideas” that rely on competition among the firm’s designers.


Go Back to the Top 25 Newsmakers

ENR Subscribe

Recent Articles by Nadine M. Post

More Tools, Green Product Picks and Goals from Greenbuild

Beta Version of Embodied Carbon Calculator Premieres

Structural Engineer Nancy Hamilton, 60, Known for Leading Complex Aviation Projects

Nadine-m-post

Nadine Post is Editor-at-Large of ENR

Related Articles

McLennan Creates a Deep-Green Building Movement

Former Bartender Pours a Cutting-edge, Concrete Cocktail for Hip, New Skyscraper

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment

Subscription Center
  • Subscribe
  • Renew Your Subscription
  • eNewsletter Subscriptions
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • Connect with ENR

More Videos

Popular Stories

NTSB final Report

Final Collapse Report Details Miami Bridge Team's Failures

The Claw

Famous Concert Stage Structure Becomes New Landmark for Utah Aquarium Expansion

1125MortMortensonobit.jpg

Mortenson Construction's M.A. "Mort" Mortenson is Dead at 82

Damaged tower cranes

Tricky Takedown of Tower Cranes Readied Collapsed New Orleans Hotel for Demolition

Southern Ohio Veterans Memorial Highway

Fixing Construction's Fixed-Price Conundrum

Industry Jobs



Products

2020 BNi Green Building Square Foot Costbook

2020 BNi Green Building Square Foot Costbook

See More Products

Special Ad Section

Spotlight on Service Providers
 Spotlight on Service Providers
 View all Special Ad Sections
 Archives

 


ENR

ENR Digital Edition Cover

Dec 9, 2019

A joint venture of Skanska, Corman Kokosing Construction Co. and McLean Contracting Co. is moving toward an early 2020 construction start for a $463-million replacement for a 79-year-old bridge across the Potomac River, south of Washington, D.C.

View More Create Account
  • Resources
    • advertise
    • contact us
    • about us
    • photo submissions
    • customer service
    • digital edition
    • Survey And Sample
  • Subscription Center
    • Subscribe
    • Website Registration
    • Privacy Policy
    • eNewsletters
    • FAQ
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Slideshows
    • Photo Contest

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing