Lubber Run Community Center

The Lubber Run Community Center was designed for tomorrow’s energy landscape. The 53,165 square foot building features meeting spaces, offices, classrooms, exercise areas, and a gymnasium. It is open to the public and is intended to serve as a cornerstone for the community. An expansive green roof over the attached parking garage includes playgrounds, as well as basketball and tennis courts. The building not only demonstrates how to be a good steward for the community, but also for both the earth and the local utility grid.

To make sustainability greatness a reality for Lubber Run, CMTA studied all building envelope features, including walls, windows and systems. The project included a whole-building blowerdoor pressure test to validate construction tightness, as well as thermal scanning and imaging. The goal was to have a well-insulated building that exceeds code minimum requirements and is also air- and water-tight. Software such as eQuest was utilized to optimize the building envelope. Enhanced roof insulation thickness and wall insulation systems were utilized. Glazing sections were optimized to balance energy consumption with daylighting, and overhang structures enhance shading. 

The building was designed to achieve an EUI of 23 or less and has a 350kW roof-mounted photovoltaic array through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). A 100kWh Li-Ion battery storage system reduces the building’s impact on the grid and increases resilience by serving as a back-up power source for the entire building. Islanding controls were designed so that the community center can operate off-grid indefinitely during most times of the year. The building also features SPHERE, CMTA’s occupant engagement dashboard.