Streetlights planned for the new United Therapeutics facilities could change the way an entire neighborhood is lit.
Courtesy of Paul Mahon/United Therapeutics.
According to company reps, lights outside the two planned buildings on Cameron Street will be more energy efficient than required, and will limit light pollution sent into the night sky.
“Since it’s a sustainable-design project, we wanted to use this fixture,” Maureen Moran, with the MCLA Lighting Group, told the planning board Thursday. The fixtures release less than one percent of its light as pollution, she said.
Now the planning board wants other developments on the central business district’s northern end to consider the energy-efficient lights.
“Our regulations follow technological advances … , and we’ve spent a great deal of time pushing sustainability,” planning commissioner Allison Bryant told his colleagues. The streetlights should serve as a standard for new projects in the area, he said.
One such project is the Cameron House, a mixed-use development adjacent to United Therapeutics’ planned northwest facility. Commissioner John Robinson suggested an amendment to that project’s plan that would incorporate the energy-efficient lights.
However, the rest of the central business district might not get the energy-efficient lights anytime soon. Silver Spring’s urban district has a stockpile of parts and supplies to maintain existing streetlights, Robert Kronenberg, of the planning department, explained.
Exactly when the stockpile would run dry was not discussed.
Courtesy of MNCPPC.
Construction on the southeast facility (adjacent to the existing labs) will begin in October, Paul Mahon, executive vice president with United Therapeutics, told The Penguin. He predicted its completion in two years, with work on the northwest facility starting immediately after that.
“The last employee moving from our existing headquarters building [on Spring Street] can push the button to demolish it,” Mahon said.
Updated Jul 24, 2007, at 10:14 a.m.
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The new Biotech HQ looks great, I just hope I don’t see it’s construction more often than every 6 months. (My sole reason for going there is that my dentist is across the street).
This project is THE SHIZZLE (my bizzle). It’s got retail space, it’s got rad public art, and it seems to flow with other projects in the area.
One thing I’d like to see with this project is a science museum or gallery. And not just some pimped-out lobby like the Discovery place. I’m talking about a space that really facilitates learning, like the National Geographic headquarters in the District.
Not that I don’t appreciate the project as is. Just dreaming out loud.
Since the sites run East-West, is the “Southern” section the one closest to the new building?
Never mind…your post clearly identifies that the northern section is next to Cameron House.
Editor’s note: I’ve edited the descriptions to “northwest” and “southeast.” — JD (Jul 24, 2007)