Musconetcong Watershed Association

• Adaptive Reuse
• Construction Waste Management
• Core and Shell
• Exisiting Building Operations
• Existing Building
• Historic
• Interior Renovation
• LEED Certified
• Local Materials
• Low Emitting Materials
• Neighborhood/Community
• Photovoltaics/Solar
• Platinum
• Recycled Materials
• Recycling
• Renovation
• Rural
• State or Local Funding
• Stormwater Mitigation

The River Resource Center in Asbury, NJ transformed a graphite mill ruin into a LEED-Platinum certified home for Musconetcong Watershed Association (MWA). The River Resource Center takes full advantage of its perch above the Musconetcong River with thoughtful viewpoints from MWA offices and community meeting spaces, exterior viewing platforms, and ground level kayak storage for watershed members.

In keeping with their mission to preserve the Musconetcong River Watershed, MWA prioritized the demonstration of best practices in water conservation and protection. On the interior, low flow plumbing fixtures with composting toilets reduce water consumption by 67%. Outside, the site was restored with native vegetation to provide a buffer along the riverfront.

With the idea that “it’s all connected,” MWA requested that the entire renovation serve as a replicable example of sustainable design and construction. The team was provided a project budget of $200/SF to reflect the local cost of residential construction and was charged with using technologies and local materials that could be easily and affordably acquired by typical homeowners and developers. The exterior cedar louvers and interior oak trim were milled locally as examples of available, cost-effective, and beautiful materials. In the end, this stem to stern 2,000 SF renovation was completed for less than $400,000, including a photovoltaic array and open-loop ground source heat pump which work together to reduce energy use by 48%.

This LEED Platinum building takes energy use and generation into consideration by being modeled to use 50% less energy than as an ASHRAE Compliant Base Case, and by using its on-site PV array to gather 20% of its energy from a renewable source.  Beyond the passive solar design, green materials, daylit spaces, and high-performance technologies, perhaps the most sustainable aspect of the project is the exciting transformation of an existing building. The River Resource Center was able to adapt and reuse 90% of the existing masonry shell and framed roof!

For additional information, please visit:
http://www.revisionarch.com/Projects.php?view=a&id=68