Conowingo Visitor Center Achieves LEED® Gold Certification,
A Green First for Gannett Fleming
August 20, 2010
 (Harrisburg, Pa.) The renovation and addition to the Visitor Center at Exelon’s Conowingo Hydroelectric Dam in Conowingo, Md., achieved LEED® Gold Certification. Gannett Fleming, an international planning, design, and construction management firm, served as the prime design consultant. This is the first time that one of Gannett Fleming’s projects achieved LEED Gold Certification while the firm served as the prime consultant.
Professionals from the firm’s corporate headquarters in Harrisburg, Pa., led this effort, and staff from the Baltimore, Md., office provided civil design. Services included civil, architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and sustainable design and were provided during a variety of project phases. Gannett Fleming performed a pre-design feasibility study, services through final design, and construction contract administration, as well as completed LEED documentation and submission requirements. The project had been substantially complete in January of this year, and the LEED Certification was awarded in May 2010.
By transforming the existing building, instead of a complete rebuild, resources were preserved. The building, its materials, and the land on which it is sited continue their service life, which reduces landfill demolition material, consumption of open land, and consumption of other non-renewable resources. This project includes numerous notable features, such as a three kilowatt, roof-mounted, photovoltaic solar panel array; a vegetated roof; and a rain barrel to collect water for use on the landscaping.
More than 45 percent of materials used for this project were manufactured within the region, and new materials contained an average of 28 percent of recycled content. The firm had been selected for this project because of its long-term relationship with Exelon performing design services for a wide variety of projects, from dams and hydraulics, to site amenities, to facilities. In addition, Gannett Fleming designed Exelon’s award-winning Renewable Energy Education Center in Fairless Hills, Pa.
“This certification level exceeded our goal of LEED Silver Certification and deserves recognition to the entire team that helped and participated. This is certainly a success,” stated Michael Wiley, senior project manager for Exelon.
For more information, please contact Judy L. Hricak, CPSM at (717) 763-7211, ext. 2624 or via e-mail.
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