Green Buildings

Greening Our Buildings & Facilities

Sustainable or green building is an integrative approach to planning, designing, constructing, operating, maintaining, and removing buildings in ways that conserve natural resources, reduce energy and water consumption, improve the health of occupants, and minimize pollution. Montgomery Parks manages and operates hundreds of buildings and is adding new buildings to the inventory every year. The Department has been committed to “greening” many of these buildings by renovating existing buildings to be more sustainable and constructing new buildings to perform efficiently and conserve resources. Resource conservation and sustainability is also implemented in the design of our outdoor facilities and parks.

Our Green Buildings

Wheaton Headquarters

The first government building in the state of Maryland to be LEED Platinum-certified. Among its green features are:

• Geothermal heating and cooling system
• 133 KW roof top solar system
• Green roof
• Gray water reuse
• On-site stormwater management
• Sited near metro rail and bus depot for easy access to public transit
• Locally sourced and recycled building materials

Rock Creek Maintenance Facility

Completed in 2019, this newly constructed LEED Gold certified building is currently used as a workspace for our park maintenance staff and has a host of sustainable features including:

• 18 photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, which covers 15% of the total energy use
• Solar water heater that stores heated water for use in the restrooms and locker rooms
• Locally sourced and recycled building materials
• Forest Stewardship Council certified wood-based building materials
• Energy efficient ground source heat pump
• Energy-efficient windows and shades along with a well-insulated building envelope
• Gray water reuse

Maydale Nature Classroom

Completed in 2021, Maydale was Montgomery Parks’ first ‘net-zero’ facility. The sustainable elements incorporated into this building to reduce impact on the environment include:

• Eco-friendly and durable bamboo flooring
• 4 kW 60 panel rooftop solar system that generates excess energy
• 275-gallon underground rainwater harvesting system that supports low-flow toilets
• 2 Trombe walls for passive heating
• Ductless HVAC system

The building and its features are learning elements for sustainability and aid in the programming for children and families.