CLEARFIELD – Gilbane Building Company has been hired by the Pennsylvania State Department of General Services as Agency Construction Manager to mange the new $15 million Welcome Center for S.B. Elliott State Park in Clearfield County. The project is currently in the preconstruction phase and will be seeking a LEED Gold standard certification from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). Construction completion is slated for October, 2010.
The 318-acre S.B. Elliott State Park is in the heart of the Moshannon State Forest and was named after the Honorable Simon B. Elliott who was a conservationist that promoted the idea of creating a nursery to raise trees for planting within the surrounding area. He was also a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature and a member of the Old State Forestry Reservation Commission which was a precursor to the now Bureau of Forestry in the Department on Conservation and Natural Resources. Aside from the picturesque areas of forest and swamp meadows, the parks amenities allow its visitors the opportunity to camp, hike, picnic, hunt, ski and more.
LEED was designed to encourage and accelerate global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted standards, tools, and performance criteria. There are four progressive levels of LEED certification which is determined by a combination of points that is achieved based on the specific design of the building. Some of those LEED points include energy efficiency, use of “green” material and construction waste management (recycling of jobsite waste).