Construction Junction is Pittsburgh’s largest building materials reuse retailer. The nonprofit organization currently occupies a neglected 100,000 sq.ft. Iindustrial building on an urban brownfield site in the east end of the city. FortyEeighty Aarchitecture has recently completed a detailed feasibility study and schematic design for the renovation and comprehensive re-use of the existing structure to create a truly sustainable retail center and green business incubator.

The renovation is targeted for LEED Gold certification, and combines a series of high performance building systems designed to minimize lifecycle and long term maintenance costs. Tthese passive strategies focus on natural ventilation, daylight harvesting, and a careful organization of spaces and functions to optimize the passive performance of the building. Iin turn, these design strategies improve the operational workflow and the quality of the interior environment for both staff and customers.

The renovation extends and exemplifies the mission of Construction Junction. The design highlights the re-use and salvage of existing building elements, materials, and components throughout. The transformation of the building is achieved primarily by re-arranging and re-purposing these resources; the new entry canopy is the reconfigured loading dock roof, the community room walls are constructed of relocated factory windows, and the new exterior windows are being salvaged from regional buildings slated for demolition.

A team of creative engineers worked with FortyEeighty Aarchitecture to model, analysis and develop performance strategies for the renovated building. Eenergy models of the existing building and several proposed alternates were developed to formulate design strategies for the renovated building envelope. Computational Fluid Ddynamic modeling was employed to study the unique and dynamic characteristics of the existing interior spaces. Photometric modeling and engineering has been used to develop designs for daylight harvesting with the existing roof monitors and to optimise highly efficient retail lighting. Site percolation tests have been conducted to facilitate the development of a “hybrid” storm water system that combines natural and engineered systems to filter and treat on site stormwater and perform long-term retention and management in a location that straddles the ridge of two regional watersheds.