Charting new territory for LEED-certified projects, the design of a Maine supermarket achieved Platinum status through a range of environmentally friendly measures, including the use of regional stone

For today’s large-scale architectural projects, achieving LEED certification is becoming more and more of a priority, and the use of locally quarried stone is often part of the process. Recently, the architects at Next Phase Studios of Boston, MA, took this development in a bold new direction with their design of a Hannaford supermarket in Augusta, ME, that achieved LEED Platinum certification. Among the project’s green features, regional stone from Upstate New York was part of the materials palette.

The goal at Next Phase Studios was to develop a low-energy building that departs from the basic “box” format and reduces its environmental impact while also enhancing the experience of customers and employees.

“The project had a very strong environmental component,” explained Rick Ames, AIA, LEED AP, Founder and Principal at Next Phase Studios. “We wanted to be the first LEED Platinum certified grocery store. We Were brought in for that reason. Most of our work is around that. A lot of our work is centered on daylight and energy reduction, and that was true in what we did for Hannaford. As part of that, we stressed the use of regional materials and natural materials.”

The project utilizes South Bay quartzite, which is quarried in Clemons, NY — approximately 260 miles from the jobsite and well within the 500-mile requirement to gain LEED points. The material was extracted and processed by Champlain Stone Ltd. Of Warrensburg, NY. “The exterior is about 1,300 square feet of full-wall veneer,” explained Ryan McLaughlin, Director of New Business Development for Champlain Stone. “There are a couple low-wall runs that go up 4 to 8 feet. The interior is done in approximately 1,500 square feet of a thin-sawn veneer.”

“Stone is obviously a natural material, and we made an effort to have the things that customers come in contact with first be natural materials,” Ames said. “The [wooden] trellis in front of the store is also a recycled piece from an old building.”

From the beginning, the architects were seeking to use the stone in a veneer application. “We spent a fair amount of effort in trying to choose a veneer stone that looked comfortable and appeared as a bearing material that was self-supporting,” Ames said. “This stone has a richness to it that makes it look less like an applied stone. Hannaford liked the color choice as well.”

Although Next Phase Studios has historically been involved in environmentally conscious projects, the Hannaford project represented a new direction for the firm. “We hadn’t done a supermarket before,” Ames said. “We do some retail, but I suppose it was a little bit of a risk on Hannaford’s part. We brought in a slightly more contemporary aesthetic, and we talked about it. Image in retail sales is very important to them, and they are very cognizant of their design process. It was a matter of what makes a building that was green look green. It wasn’t a huge aesthetic shift, but It was using natural materials in ways that people could appreciate. Stone can work in any style in most settings if you have an interest in a natural or traditional material.”

The architects maintained a high level of communication with Hannaford throughout the process. “We were making sure that the customer felt comfortable with the inclusion of masonry, which was a new product for them,” Ames said. “We used it on both sides of the entry foyer and also inside. That was comfortable for them.”

PROCESSING AND INSTALLING THE STONE

After the South Bay quartzite was extracted, it was processed at Champlain Stone’s location in Fort Ann, NY, very close to the quarry site. According to McLaughlin, one priority among the owners and architects was to ensure that the full-bed veneer and thin-sawn veneer would have the same appearance. “They were quite concerned with the transition from the full bed to the thin ve- Neer inside the lobby,” he said. “They wanted to make sure it transitioned very well, and the look from the interior and exterior would match. We take a lot of pride in our thin veneer. We make the full-bed product first, and then we take the face off of it.”

The full bed veneer has a nominal thickness of 4 inches — typically ranging from 3 to 5 inches — while the thin veneer pieces had a nominal thickness of 1 inch (typically ranging from ¾ to 1 ¼ inch). “The majority was our standard split-face ashlar material, which is 4 to 12 inches high,” McLaughlin said. “Also, there was some ledge stone to be mixed in with the full bed. The standard is 3 to 5 inches high in random lengths from 7 to 14 inches — usually 8, 9 or 10 inches — as well as thin ledge stone at a height of 1 to 3 inches with lengths ranging from 6 to 14 inches. They wanted some long thin ledge stone material, so we cut special extra-long lengths on this project — up to 24 inches.”

The mason on the project was Phoenix Associates of New Gloucester, ME, which was responsible for the stonework as well as the brickwork. Vinal Zegouros of Phoenix Associates worked with Champlain Stone to obtain stone samples and mix them with the brickwork, and he created a dry mockup for review. After two months of preparation work and determining the proper color blend, construction on the project began.

Working with a crew of eight to 10 people, Phoenix Associates installed the exterior stonework over a period of two to three months and the interior stone over a period of a little more than a month. In order to help ensure continuity between the exterior and interior stonework, Zegouros worked closely with Champlain Stone’s saw shop to make sure that the standard length of the interior pieces would not be reduced as they were processed into thin veneer.

“The whole building moved very quickly — six to eight months — which might be long for the typical supermarket, but it was short for this project,” Ames explained. “We had a local architect [WBRC Architects- Engineers of Bangor, ME] representing us on site, and Hannford is one of the most sophisticated construction clients I ever worked with. They had their own engineering, building and construction staff that are as skilled as anyone in the industry. There were three levels of people watching. As a consequence, everything worked quickly and sure-footedly.”

The Hannaford Augusta store achieved LEED Platinum certification under the LEED for Retail pilot program. It serves as a “working laboratory” to test new innovations that lower energy use, waste and water consumption.

While the use of regional stone contributed to LEED Platinum certification, the Project’s environmental innovations went well beyond material choices. The supermarket is located at the site of the former Cony High School, and 96% of that facility was recycled or reused, with 99% of the school’s contents — desks, furniture, fixtures — also reused or recycled. Additionally, the store is powered by the largest installation of solar panels in Maine, with a 41-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system providing on-site renewable power. Meanwhile, water from two geothermal wells,

Located 750 feet underground, help regulate the building’s temperature, and natural daylight is utilized six different ways to help light the store. Overall, the new store was designed to utilize about half as much energy as a typical supermarket of comparable size and amenities.

In addition to being the first of approximately 85,000 supermarkets in the U. S. to receive LEED Platinum certification, the Hannaford in Augusta, ME, has been well-received by the local community. “All the feedback we’ve gotten has been very positive, both design-wise and performance-wise,” Ames said. “The store manager is extremely proud and happy, and the employees are happy that it is performing well.”