Engineer returns to alma mater to highlight Corps projects using Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Posted March 31, 2010
By Brittany Brown
Norfolk District Public Affairs

03/31/2010 - NORFOLK, Va. — Gary Szymanski, chief of cost engineering for the technical services division for the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will return to his alma mater Tuesday, April 13 for the second annual Engineering Unplugged conference.

Szymanski, a 1987 graduate of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, will be a guest speaker at the "all green, all technology" conference which provides a one-day opportunity for environmental leaders to share real-world applications yielding measurable returns on investments in three areas: green buildings, energy conservation/alternative energy and greenhouse gases.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, better known as LEED, success stories at the Norfolk District will be the topic of discussion during Szymanski's panel discussion at ODU's Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Many of the projects Szymanski has been involved with have achieved LEED Silver ratings by the U.S. Green Building Council. As a civil engineer, Szymanski is an integral part of the Base Realignment Commission, or BRAC, support team involved in the planning and design of many BRAC projects at military installations such as the Logistics University, Tactical Support Equipment Department facility and dining facility at Fort Lee, Va.

Szymanski said he plans to discuss two Norfolk District projects: The completed Sustainment Center of Excellence at Fort Lee and the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, which is still under construction. "Both projects will shed light on sustainable site practices implemented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers," Szymanski said.

"I am looking forward to the opportunity to highlight an exceptional building that we have constructed as CASCOM's Sustainment Center of Excellence, or SCOE, and the advancement in our implementation of LEED," he added.

The $50 million SCOE facility is a four-story 218,579 square-foot structure situated on 11 acres. Some of its many LEED features include a white roof that reflects the sun and helps maintain lower temperatures within the building, lighting controlled by central software and infrared motion sensors to help conserve energy. There will also be two dry ponds that contain thousands of garden ground cover plants and grasses to retain and utilize rainwater runoff.

Fort Belvoir's 1.3-million-square-foot joint military hospital was also engineered to minimize impact on the outside environment and will receive silver status through the international green building rating system. Of its many eco-friendly features, the hospital has swooped-shaped roofs to collect rainwater into an irrigation system for the healing garden patients to view from all waiting rooms. Once completed, the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital will become part of an integrated health care network providing world-class medical services to the nation's wounded warriors and their families.

"Sustainable site practices have helped reduce the impacts that our facilities have on the natural and manmade environment, including protection of habitat and natural resources, water use efficiency, light pollution, heat effects from pavements, community connectivity and reductions in construction waste," said Szymanski, who has 25 years experience in sustainable site engineering.

A state-wide initiative, Engineering Unplugged is presented by the Virginia Applied Technology and Professional Development Center of ODU. Attendees will earn continuing education credits while learning the latest about environmental issues facing manufacturing, architecture/design, transportation, engineering, military construction and facilities management. For the first time, ODU will offer live and on-demand video streaming of the conference for attendees unable to travel to Norfolk.