Philip Merrill Environmental Center

The Philip Merrill Environmental Center houses the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s 90-person staff. The building features open office workstations for all staff members, including the president, to promote interaction and collaboration. The layout also supports sustainable design strategies such as daylighting and natural ventilation, while providing views of the bay for every employee.

The Merrill Center has an array of resource-conserving features that both support CBF’s environmental mission and facilitate on-site education. About 73 percent of the building’s water comes from rainwater stored in three exposed collection cisterns. Material from composting toilets is used to fertilize the grounds. A bio-retention garden in the parking lot uses carefully selected plants to filter storm water runoff. While these high-profile technologies attract much of the visitor attention, the building shows a commitment to both leading edge and good-sense green design strategies.