The Philip Merrill Environmental Center
 From its cork floors to its rain cisterns, the Philip Merrill Environmental Center is known as "the greenest building in the world." The center offers an award-winning design, one that embraces the environment in nearly every detail. (Photos courtesy of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.)
Guided tours of the building, which serves as the headquarters for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, are now available for small groups at specific times. Hour-long tours are available on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons at 4 PM. Two-hour tours are available the first Wednesday of the month from 6 to 8 PM. Two-hour tours are also available the third Saturday of each month from 10 AM to noon and from 1:30 to 3:30 PM.
Reservations are required for all tours. There is a $5 fee for adults for the hour-long tour, $10 for the two-hour tour, and no charge for children 6 & under. To make a reservation, or for more information, phone 443-482-2000 or email aestes@savethebay.cbf.org.
The following article will tell you more about this tremendous local resource.
 CBF headquarters wins architecture award
By TIM HYLAND
Staff Writer
Published October 30, 2001
The Capital
Covered in recycled cans and cars, heated by solar panels and capable of using 70 percent less energy than a typical office building, the Philip Merrill Environmental Center has always been regarded as an environmental marvel.
Now it's being lauded for its architectural form and function.
The center headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation located in Bay Ridge just outside Annapolis has been named among the winners of the fifth annual Business Week/Architectural Record Awards. The awards, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and the McGraw-Hill Companies, are given to buildings of both purpose and value. Winners are featured in the Nov. 5 issue of Business Week.
The winning buildings were selected for demonstrating how good architecture and design can prove to be good business. As a headquarters true to its mission of saving the bay, the Merrill Center has done just that, according to the judges.
"The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is doing everything it can to have a self-sufficient building that does not detract from ecology," Mark Walsh, a juror for the competition, told Architectural Record.
Mary Tod Winchester, CBF vice president of administration and operations, said the building was the perfect fit for the foundation's mission of environmental preservation.
 The building is also an exciting workplace, Ms. Winchester said.
"We wanted it to be an energizing and exciting place to work, and to increase staff effectiveness, facilitate staff collaboration and staff creativeness," Ms. Winchester said.
The center, opened last year, is named after Philip Merrill, the late chairman of the board of Capital-Gazette Communications Inc. and publisher of The Capital. Mr. Merrill, who died in June 2006, was a trustee and longtime supporter of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its environmental causes. He donated $7.5 million toward the $11.4 million project. It was designed by the Smith Group architects.
"We thought CBF would be a good candidate for the award because of our close ties with the client, and because they wanted a superior working space and an environmentally superior building," said Kathy Hessmer, spokesman for Smith Group. "We like to think it's also a superbly designed and a beautiful building."
 Just about every nut, bolt and beam in the building was chosen based on environmental concerns, including:
Timbers that make up the building's framework are made up from pieces of second-growth wood, eliminating the need to cut down oldgrowth trees.
Louvres on the building's face were made from recycled pickle barrels from an Eastern Shore pickle factory. The louvres optimize sunlight to heat the building in the winter but cool it in summer.
Cork floors were chosen because the material is a renewable resource that can be taken from a living tree without harm.
Rain cisterns will collect water for use in fire suppression, hand washing, mops sinks, cooling, and cleaning equipment. The rain collection system also virtually eliminates building runoff.
The building was placed so as to achieve the optimum angle to harvest sunlight for light and heat and wind for ventilation.
The building has been a valuable symbol for what CBF stands for, said Ms. Winchester.
"It's been a magnet for the many different kinds of audiences that our staff wants to influence," she said.
Published 10/30/01, Updated 08/05/06 Copyright © 2002
The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
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