University of Southern Maine Portland Commons Residence Hall and McGoldrick Center
Portland, Maine
Merit Award
Sent by: PC construction
Owner: University of Southern Maine
P3 Developer: Capstone Development Partners
Principal Engineer of Design and Structure/Civil/MEP: SMRT Architects and Engineers
Construction Manager: PC construction
Architect: Elkus Manfredi Architects
This LEED Gold project is the second largest Passive House university residence in the United States and brings the university closer to its goal of being carbon neutral by 2040.
The 580-bed dormitory and three-story, 41,000-square-foot McGoldrick Center feature renewable, low-carbon building technologies and waste diversion strategies. The project team diverted and recycled waste materials during all phases of construction. Recycled materials were used whenever possible, and the project team consistently selected the most economical materials and methods with the least ecological impact.
The building is oriented to the south to take advantage of passive solar heating, with a large glass curtain wall under a 20-foot-deep portico. Comprised of diagonally crossed laminated timber columns, the 30-foot-tall, 200-foot-long portico forms a front porch on campus that covers a two-story, massive timber-framed lobby. The portico shades the windows in the summer and allows the sun to enter the first floor spaces in the winter. A 33.3kW solar PV array provides shade to the roof membrane below and produces renewable energy for the power grid.
