Bethel Center
Helps Build a Sustainable Neighborhood
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In Chicago, Concrete Creates New Opportunities
by Jennifer G. Prokopy
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| Photovoltaic cells at Bethel Center are one of its
readily-visible green building products. While not obvious, the concrete
panels that form the walls also contribute to its sustainability,
increasing energy efficiency and improving indoor air quality. Photo
by Barry Rustin Photography. |
A new project in Chicago’s West Garfield Park is helping to revitalize
the neighborhood, bringing much-needed daycare, employment assistance,
computer training, retail, financial services and office space—and
uniting it with a recently renovated “El” station linking
the community to the rest of the city. Dedicated May 19, 2005 the
Bethel Center provides the neighborhood with an anchor around which
a more sustainable community can be crafted. Concrete is a core component
of the structure, which strives for Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) Gold certification.
Transit-Oriented Development in Action
The project was created by Bethel New Life, Inc., a community-directed
non-profit organization that grew out of Bethel Lutheran Church in the
1970s, and has since been an innovator and motivator in the west side
neighborhood. Planning began almost 10 years ago, when the Chicago Transit
Authority threatened to shut down the Green Line serving the area. Protests
led the city to save the line, and Bethel New Life started planning the
building—which fit well with the organization’s sustainable
goals.
Aligning the project with the El station was key, says Mary Nelson, CEO
of Bethel New Life. In this community, only about 35 percent of residents
have cars, so public transit is a way of life for most. “We see
this building, at this transit stop, as an anchor,” says Nelson.
“We’ve built at least 50 new housing units within walking
distance as a part of the transit- oriented development. This new building
is just the first step, a wonderful stepping stone to revitalizing the
area.”
Fron Foundation to Roof, Concrete Brings Big Benefits
Farr Associates of Chicago planned and designed the project. The firm
practices “socially and environmentally responsible architecture,
planning, and preservation,” and its principals are actively involved
in numerous planning committees to promote this mission.
Bethel Center, says principal Kevin Pierce, goes “beyond the transit-oriented
aspect of environmentalism,” offering services rooted in environmental
justice and social equity. Nelson says it shows how “a transit stop
can be a major asset in a community, providing economic viability.”
Designed on a tight site, the two-story building has a third-story portion
that acts as a lobby for the bridge from the El platform. A steel structure
forms the building’s shape, but the rest of the structure is all
about concrete.
The building is constructed on a brownfield site, anchored by a foundation
that incorporates 25 percent fly ash replacement in the slab and footings.
The walls are manufactured using the Solarcrete system. Seven-inch-thick
slabs of foam are wrapped with a reinforcing steel cage; the pre-manufactured
slabs are shipped to the worksite and attached to the building frame.
The slabs are then covered with shotcrete (specified at 4,000 psi) in
a layer about 2 inches thick, on either side of the wall, and screeded
off to create a smooth, level surface.
Because the shotcrete and steel frame will experience independent thermal
movement, the shotcrete is separated from the frame. The two concrete
sides of each Solarcrete wall are joined with nylon ties, in a perpendicular
two-foot grid across the face of the wall, and the units are finished
with a layer of synthetic stucco. The resulting walls offer a thermal
value of R-25.
Bethel Center also uses a precast concrete plank floor and roof system.
Utility conduit was installed before the planks were finished off with
a two-inch topping slab, hiding utilities and keeping the ceilings uncluttered.
“The undersides of the planks are the finished ceilings—painted
a clean white to get great reflective daylighting,” says Pierce.
The long plank design lent itself to a design that includes holes for
4-foot by 10-foot skylight wells, one per 20-foot bay. This easy, inexpensive
approach means every top-floor space enjoys daylighting, and helps reduce
the energy used by light fixtures.
Safety, Comfort and Energy
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is a proponent of green roofs, so it was natural
to install one at Bethel Center. The presence of daycare required a class
1 fire rating, but a concrete roof eliminated the need for a costly sprinkler
system and also met the city’s strength criteria (100 pounds per
square foot) for green roofs.
When it comes to comfort, Bethel Center has it, says Pierce. The thermal
mass of concrete helps keep temperatures even and consistent, and blocks
noise from busy adjacent Pulaski Road and the El train. Stairs in the
building are pans filled with concrete.
The structure will provide its inhabitants with a quiet setting for work
and play, one that stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter. In
fact, energy modeling (performed according to the Chicago Energy Conservation
Code’s total building energy model) shows that the Center exceeds
requirements by 50 percent, with projected annual energy savings of $12,000.
For more information on Bethel Center, click
here.
About the Author: As principal of Orange
Grove Media, an independent communications firm, Jennifer
G. Prokopy provides expert writing, editing and media relations services
to the construction industry. As president of the Construction Writers
Association (CWA), Jenni works with the nation’s top construction
journalists and publicists to improve the quality of construction communications.
She is a winner of the CWA Marketing Communications Award, recognizing
her writing on sustainable construction with concrete, and a graduate
of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
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