Lambert's Point Community Center
NORFOLK - The City of Norfolk's newest community center promotes not only public health but enviromental health.
Much of the buliding at Lambert's Point was built with recycled material. The flooring is low maintenance and natural sunlight is reflected through tubes into inner rooms to reduce power consumption
It also retains and cleans storm water instead of dumping all of it into storm drains.
The walkways are light instead of dark to minimize the heat; pavers in parking lot allow water to soak in rather than run off into sewers.
John Dunn, the LEED consultant for the center, says there are benefits you can't see.
"We provide ventilation only when needed. Sensors around the building sense CO-2 levels and drop down the ventilation when people aren't in those spaces, reducing energy," he stated.
The city hopes to create other "green" buildings in the future.
"The challenge we have in the city is that we have a lot of old buildings that we have to retrofit to make them more sustainable and there is a commitment to making that happen over the next future development of new buildings and retrofitting," said Bob Batcher.
The goal is to balance function, beauty and environmental responsibility.
The 24,000 square foot, $7.5 million community center features a 25-ft. rock climbing wall, an adventure room with indoor ropes course, an art studio, game room, fitness room and more.
