Submarine Learning Center | LEED Silver Status

This past week, official LEED Silver certification was awarded to the P -478 Submarine Learning Center Training Headquarters project at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, CT.

The Submarine Learning Center (SLC) Training Headquarters is a 16,000 square foot, two-story, administrative office building with a steel frame structure.  The SLC is a new NAVFAC facility that plans, programs, budgets, and executes individual and team training for Undersea Warfare Enterprise mission readiness. 

The SLC was the first in-house Design-Build project for P&S Construction and is portfolio highlight for its collaborative work approach with the construction team and its overall aesthetic beauty.

Innovative LEED design programs include P&S Construction Design Team generating a "whole building energy simulation" model to perform an energy analysis of the designed systems. The team designed SLC’s mechanical systems to eliminate the use of CFC's, ozone depleting or greenhouse gas production refrigerants. Prior to building occupancy, all HVAC filters were  replaced immediately and a building flush-out was preformed to ensure proper indoor air quality was achieved.

Other LEED features entail a geothermal system comprised of a vertical closed loop glycol system which utilizes a brazed heat exchanger to transfer energy to a series of water to air heat pumps located throughout the building. Eighteen closed-loop geoexchange bores were drilled four-hundred feet below the surface with twenty feet of clearance around each so that seasonal soil temperature swings would not affect the system.

 Materials were chosen on the basis that they would promote the use of rapidly renewable resources and encourage environmentally responsible forest management. Ten percent of all materials and products used in the construction of the SLC were extracted, harvested, or manufactured regionally, therefore supporting the use of indigenous resources and reducing the environmental impacts of transportation.  In addition, low VOC products were also used throughout the building.

Further, site materials consisted of high-albedo materials to absorb heat from sunlight such as concrete flatwork, pavers and the roof membrane. This greatly reduced the site's "heat-island" effect by decreasing the overall ambient temperature of the site and building.

The landscape design limits the use of potable water by incorporating native landscaping within the site design, thereby, eliminating the need for substantial irrigation systems. These strategies significantly reduce the need for municipally supplied potable water.

P&S Construction is proud of the sustainable design achievements made at the SLC and is proud to be a part of green design and construction initiatives. Even more, we are thrilled our commitment is being recognized. ONE, a monthly column from the Naval Submarine Base New London features an article on SLC’s LEED features.  Read it here: