PORTLAND, ME  Harriman, an architecture and engineering firm with offices in Portland and Auburn, Maine, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, announces that the Maine chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Maine) Committee on the Environment (COTE) has recognized the firm with a special citation for historic adaption for its work on the Good Will-Hinckley Moody School Renovation and Addition. The AIA Maine COTE Awards program recognizes exemplary and innovative built projects that establish a standard of over-all design excellence that creatively integrates sustainable design strategies, demonstrating their benefits while educating and inspiring the profession and the public.

The Charles E. Moody School was constructed in 1905-1906 and designed by the architectural firm of William R. Miller of Lewiston, Maine, replacing an earlier structure destroyed by fire. The Moody School is a contributing structure to the "Hinckley Good Will Home Historic District", designated a National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Starting in 2012, Harriman was contracted to assess and design renovations for the original 16,150-square-foot, 12-classroom school, and a 7,200-square-foot addition to create five new classrooms to house the MeANS Charter School. The design approach is respectful of the historic building, retaining much of the original character defining features, while developing highly energy efficient alterations and classroom addition.

The building is designed to an energy usage level approximately 30 percent less than a conventional building. This is achieved through the use of energy efficient mechanical and lighting systems. The building's exterior incorporates insulation values in excess of code requirements. In addition, 267 photovoltaic panels were installed on the building and are expected to deliver approximately 90,000 kWh of power. The Moody School will use approximately 77,000 kWh annually, leaving a "net positive" of 13,000 kWh of clean, renewable power. This will offset the energy needs of adjacent greenhouses and other facilities on campus.

"We found this project to be a very solid example of a path to elevating even a Historic Registry building to 21st standard of comfort and performance," said the Jurors. "This was a good size, and complex project, where the existing building was retrofit and the addition was well above code to elevate the final performance results. The inclusion of a significant PV array achieves a predicted energy neutral or better result. The high performance addition is well attuned to the historic architecture, while clearly presenting a contemporary rendering or the traditional material palette. The process clearly demonstrated an integrated approach that responded to energy modeling to capture design and technical opportunities well."

In addition to Harriman, project team members include Landry/French Construction Company (Scarborough, Maine); Lowell Specifications (Freeport, Maine); Conestco (Raymond, Maine); GO Logic (Belfast, Maine); Building Envelope Specialists (South Portland, Maine); and Nova Consulting Group (Portland, Maine).