April 6, 2017

Bainbridge museum earns LEED gold

Photo by Lara Swimmer [enlarge]

The museum’s sustainable elements include a geo-exchange system.

Photo by Keith Brofsky [enlarge]

BIMA board member Ralph Spillinger (left) and Scott Farwell, facilities and operations manager, are shown monitoring installation of the solar array. Photo by Keith Brofsky

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art earned LEED gold certification thanks to sustainable elements that include a rooftop solar array.

The array has 100 modules that are projected to provide 28-kilowatt output, which is sufficient to put power back into the grid in summer, the museum said in a press release.

The nearly 20,000-square-foot museum opened in 2013 at 550 Winslow Way E. to showcase contemporary Northwest art.

It was designed by Bainbridge architect Matthew Coates of Coates Design Architects.

“Art museums are inherently energy-intensive, making LEED gold designation an extremely challenging goal,” Coates said.

BIMA said it is the first new art museum in the state to receive LEED gold.

Besides the solar panels, its sustainable elements include a geo-exchange system that uses 14 bores 400 feet beneath the foundation to offset the amount of energy required to heat and cool the building.

The museum also has natural light in most of the public spaces; a louver system across the glass façade that tracks solar angles to reduce heat gain and glare inside; low-flow water fixtures inside and climate-appropriate landscaping to reduce water demand; and non-toxic paints, sealants and materials. Also, 95 percent of the construction waste was recycled, and more than 20 percent of the new materials came from recycled sources.

General contractor PHC Construction of Bainbridge Island worked with Scott Farwell, the museum's facility manager, and board member Ralph Spillinger to secure the LEED gold certification. The museum previously had some solar panels but expansion of the array late last year got it the final “points” required under the LEED scoring system.

The array uses certified Made In Washington components, including modules provided by iTek Energy of Bellingham at cost and microinverters provided for free by Blue Frog Solar/APsystems of Bainbridge Island and Poulsbo. The installer was Puget Sound Solar of Seattle.

Donors paid for the expanded array.