Our monthly Project Spotlights highlight the cutting-edge work being done by Phius professionals and provide examples of successful design and construction strategies. We feature projects of various sizes, typologies, and climate zones, offering you a peek behind the curtain of each. The Project Spotlight series appears in e-blasts to our mailing list (be sure to join if you haven’t already) as well as right here in the Klingenblog.

Our January Project Spotlight is: Carroll Center Renovation and Addition in Oak Park, Illinois! It is a multi-purpose educational facility retrofit project that was part of the Passive Projects Tour when PhiusCon was hosted in Chicago in 2022. (If you’re interested in learning about other non-res projects, be sure to mark your calendar for the Phius Non-Res Online Summit, the evenings of May 20 and 21).

Project Team

  • Architecture Planning: Tom Bassett-Dilley Architects
  • CPHC: Tom Bassett-Dilley
  • Submitter: Garrett Kilbride
  • Construction Company: TBDA Construction Manager with Park District of Oak Park
  • QA/QC: Graham Giovagnoli - EcoAchievers
  • Owner/Developer: Park District of Oak Park

An Inside Look

This is a Phius+ 2018 Source Zero addition and renovation project for the park district, a leading proponent of environmentalism in the community. For this project, pursuing Phius Source Zero fulfilled their sustainability mission while allowing them to qualify for a grant to offset incremental costs to get to zero. 

The original building was built for the park in the 1920s and added to in the 1940s and 1970s, so it was a relatively leaky, underinsulated hodgepodge. The brief called for renovating the existing portions (2,800 sf plus basement) and adding a large meeting room that could be divided into two classrooms; activities for the building included preschool in the mornings, after-school programs for kids, and evening programs for adults. The addition, including vestibule connection, was 3,400 sf, for a total of 6,200 sf plus a 2,100 sf basement.

The design team chose “conservation minimalism” as a way of prioritizing investment in a clean energy future above any design moves that could be seen as frivolous. The solution for the Center consisted of an interior retrofit of the existing building, keeping the original fireplace and exposed wooden structural members; a new entry lobby connects to a large, simple volume for the big room. Given the activity levels of the after-school kids (dodgeball for instance), windows were limited in the new space. Daylighting was provided through a long, high band of windows on the south, shaded by a wall-mounted solar PV array, and was balanced by large skylights and small view windows on the north (entry) side of the space. The new volume provided ample roof area for the 23.7kW PV array, providing a monitored ~10,000 kWh/yr surplus that can be used as community solar.

While the new construction was quite straightforward — mineral wool outside CMU wall structure, conventional roof and slab — the retrofit took intense air sealing measures with tape, fluid-applied membranes, and HFO-blown spray foam to cover the many seams and folds of the complicated existing structure. We used the HFO foam since it’s the lowest embodied energy foam. Given the existing structural conditions and R-values needed, the foam was the best choice.

Conditioning is driven by a ground-source heat pump system, with ventilation through a commercial ERV. The Center was completed in June of 2020, so the District, parents, and users of the Center appreciated the thorough ventilation verified for the occupancy!

Remember, if you are interested in non-residential projects, join us for our Spring Summit May 20-21!