The Brock Environmental Center is a new destination for hands-on, field-based environmental education programs for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. CBF's award-winning environmental education programs provide significant outdoor learning experiences for thousands of students, teachers, citizens, and community leaders. Operating from the center's education pavilion and waterfront pier, CBF's "floatin
g classroom," the Jenny S explores the Lynnhaven River and Chesapeake Bay. The building is also the headquarters for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Hampton Roads office and also hosts a partner organization, Lynnhaven River NOW. It has achieved the notable LEED Platinum certification and has achieved one of the toughest building standards in the world—Living Building Challenge certification. With its solar panels and residential wind turbines producing nearly twice as much energy as the building has used, the Center has far surpassed expectations since its completion in late 2014. Geothermal wells, rain cisterns for drinking water, waterless composting toilets, and natural landscaping add to the Center's status as an international model for sustainability. Elevated 14 feet above sea level, it is also a prototype for coping with climate change in a region increasingly prone to flooding. The Brock Environmental Center produces 83 percent more energy than it uses. It is also the first commercial building in the continental U.S. permitted to capture and treat rainfall for use as drinking water. The building uses 90 percent less water than a typical office building of its size and 80 percent less energy, showing all visitors how building sustainability helps both you and the environment!
