| AIA Top Ten Green
Project Winners: Part X,
Renovation of the Motherhouse in Monroe, Mich. Designed by Susan Maxman & Partners of Philadelphia, the Renovation of the Motherhouse in Monroe, Mich., involved renovation and development of an existing site and grounds, with the goal of sustainability. This AIA Top Ten Green Project award-winning project began when the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (SSIHM), recognized that their order was diminishing. The Sisters embarked on a collaborative, long-range planning process to determine the best way to achieve an ecologically sustainable 21st century community on their 280-acre site in southern Michigan. Many of the structures on the property were built in the 1930s and have historical significance. To meet this challenge, the design team designed 380,000 square feet of construction that utilized the existing structures to best meet the Sisters' specific housing, long-term care and spiritual needs, while achieving sustainable and preservation goals. The team also succeeded in creating a warm and friendly home, with a strong focus on nature and the surrounding site. The Sisters wanted to leave a legacy to future generations with this project. Since the SSIHM congregation is known for its teaching excellence, the Sisters saw this project as an opportunity to teach the public about important environmental issues. In fact, even if suggested strategies had very long payback periods (longer than many of them would live), the Sisters often still chose to incorporate them to be able to teach about them. The jurors noted the Sisters’ commitment to sustainable design in their comments. “The sisters’ comment that sustainability is a moral mandate was compelling,” the jurors remarked. “And here they showed how to be smart with reuse. There is also a strong connection to the neighborhood and a reconstructed wetland, showing how the building engaged in its site and place. There’s a real sensitivity to aging occupants and how they would use the building.” Dedication to Long-Lasting Green Solutions The Motherhouse renovation was funded entirely by the Sisters. (The total project cost--land excluded--was $55 million.) Although one of the goals of the project was to design every aspect in conformance with the standards outlined by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, a rehabilitation tax credit could not be considered because, as a religious institution, the Immaculate Heart of Mary does not pay taxes. Also, the design team learned, while trying to secure foundation grants and special subsidy programs, that virtually no organizations fund groups with religious affiliations. Even though they would have to bear the burden of construction expenses, the Sisters refused to sacrifice long-lasting solutions for short-term savings. All components of the project were evaluated by the project team for sustainability, historic appropriateness and value. (Several manufacturers, such as Interface Carpet, offered price breaks because they believed in what the Sisters were doing.) Since the average age of the Motherhouse residents was 80 at the time of project completion, payback was less of an interest than it might have been for another client. However, the Sisters were willing to look ahead to the payback for the owner in 25 years. They could justify, therefore, a 20-year payback on the geothermal system and a 30-year payback on the graywater system. Those two systems were implemented not to save money in the short term, but to save money, fossil fuels and water in the long run. The paybacks on many of the other systems in the building were not quantified, because the Sisters did not need financial justification to utilize them. For example, they chose cork flooring for many of the public corridors because it is easy on the feet and rapidly renewable, and because the cork flooring in their existing building had lasted 70 years. Commitment to Creating an Eco-Village Preserving the open space, with the possibility of developing a small sustainable eco-village in the future, is part of the Immaculate Heart of Mary mission.  Even before the renovation, the 280-acre Immaculate Heart of Mary campus was an important part of the local community because it had long been used by neighbors as parkland. When renovating the site, the Sisters made special presentations so neighbors would understand why the changes were the right thing to do. The congregation learned that their site compromised some of the last remnants of native oak savannah habitat. As a result, they had the landscape architect protect it and develop a maintenance policy for removing invasive species. In addition, the water- and energy-consuming lawns were rototilled, not sprayed with herbicide, to prepare for native meadow plantings that require no watering or mowing and encourage wildlife species to make the site their home. The project also provided less parking than required by code. By changing the campus's zoning to a planned unit development and showing that carpooling and van use strategies reduced the need for on-site parking, the design team was able to eliminate over 300 parking spaces. Devotion to Water Conservation The Sisters were concerned that by meeting programmatic needs for future users who would require private bathrooms and triple the number of fixtures, they would consume substantially more water. Consequently, the design team specified only low-flow plumbing fixtures (including 1.8 gallon-per-minute showerheads). In addition, graywater system routes all of the shower and lavatory water to a constructed wetlands, where it is purified and used for flushing toilets. Now, even though there are three times the number of fixtures, the Sisters use only half of the potable water they used prior to the renovation. The wetlands also serve another purpose. Along with vegetated swales in the parking areas, the wetland area retains all stormwater on site. The area also attracts birds and butterflies. Adherence to Lighting Considerations As this was a renovation project, the orientation and siting were a given; however, certain strategies in the renovation and site design contributed substantially to making the campus more environmentally responsible. The existing buildings are oriented primarily on an east/west axis, meaning that a majority of the living spaces face either north or south. Since the window openings are quite large, it was important for those window units facing south to be restored to reduce direct ultraviolet light and heat gain.  Residential rooms were laid out to provide occupants with sufficient natural light to illuminate living spaces during daylight hours. Most of the Sisters retire shortly after dinner and rise at daybreak, requiring artificial illumination only a few hours a day; this use of daylight highly reduces the building's energy consumption. In addition, the cloistered walkways have daylight sensors, and group spaces, such as conference rooms and program areas, have occupancy sensors. All of the windows in occupied spaces are operable, and French doors in circulation areas and larger spaces provide natural ventilation. In terms of heating and cooling, geotechnical studies indicated that the subsurface conditions were particularly suitable for a ground-coupled heating and cooling system. Even though the payback period on the system was estimated at 20 years, the driving force behind its selection was the reduction of the need for fossil fuels. The challenges to making the system as efficient as possible were the high indoor winter design temperature--the site’s elderly occupants prefer a higher ambient temperature--and the requirements to preserve the historic structure. In order to preserve the exterior brick, the team could not insulate the walls without permanently harming them. Double-glazing the windows helped, but the fact that they are operable makes for greater infiltration. The project uses nearly 20 percent less energy than a conventional project would use. Energy-efficiency measures include direct-injection outside air distribution, the use of a chiller in geothermal mode and desiccant heat recovery. Future projects include a solar-powered carport, which would recharge plug-in hybrid cars. Commitment to Recycling Early on, it was determined that the existing interior layout would not meet the current and future residents’ needs. To justify the 90 percent demolition of interior partitions, the project became an exemplary model of reuse and recycling: --The firebrick interior partitions were ground up on site and used as the subbase for the parking areas. --Existing ceiling tile and carpeting were recycled. --All of the interior doors were refinished and reused. --Hardware sets and doorframes were recycled. --Most of the built-ins and casework were salvaged and relocated in the new design. --Marble toilet stall partitions were made into countertops. In addition, all of the materials used in the renovation of the Motherhouse were selected for their durability and environmental responsibility. When new materials were specified, the design team was successful in incorporating local materials 70 percent of the time, and many of those materials include recycled content. 
Further, the construction manager championed construction and demolition waste recycling initiatives and instructed all of the subcontractors, prior to the commencement of work, of the client’s environmental goals. In fact, some of the most dubious of the subcontractors were eventually won over to green building. Service to the Future An important goal of this project was to design a facility that would suit the Sisters’ needs while also looking to the needs of future users. A market analysis confirmed that the elderly population of southeast Michigan would be interested in living in a facility such as the Motherhouse after the retired Sisters stopped being the primary population. To suit the Sisters’ and the future occupants’ needs, the following facilities were included in the design: efficiency residences with private baths, both assisted-living and skilled-care facilities with healthcare and dining areas, the future possibility of dining within the residential areas, and various laundry options. Daylight, views and natural ventilation are extremely important to the Sisters, many of whom are not able to go outside due to poor health. Connection to the outdoors was a key goal for the renovation. All of the Sisters' rooms have multiple windows, all operable. Since the Motherhouse is organized around small communities of 10 to 12 Sisters sharing a living room, kitchen and laundry, the design team opened the shared spaces to the corridors, allowing circulation spaces to be daylit as well. On lower levels, the cloistered walkways, which had been turned into storage rooms and programmed space, were reincorporated as walkways. In addition, the community room below the chapel spans between two newly created, landscaped courtyards. Since the renovated Motherhouse opened in 2003, the Sisters have created displays throughout to instruct visitors about the sustainable features of their project. A large salon on the main floor of the Motherhouse has been given over to the display of the design and construction of the project. To date, thousands of visitors have toured the building and learned what this congregation has accomplished. The AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) works to advance, disseminate, and advocate—to the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the public—design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment.
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