PSEG ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE CENTER

Salem, NJ

A one-story suburban office space transformed into a dynamic visitor center for PSEG, a New Jersey power company. The energy and environmental resource center leads a new era of energy interpretive centers that explores the issue of meeting the nation’s needs with limited natural resources. Exhibits are layered with vibrant graphics, multimedia, and manual interactives that engage a broad audience. Visitors can calculate their carbon footprint, travel through the history of electricity using an interactive timeline, and monitor the performance of an on-site wind turbine solar array exhibit that supplies power to the new resource center.

Several green strategies, which were used to achieve LEED Gold certification and reflects PSEG’s commitment to environmental stewardship, include:

• Reusing a nuclear training facility instead of building anew
• Diverting 94% of the on-site construction debris from the waste stream
• Integrating FSC-certified wood, regionally-fabricated products, and rapidly-renewable materials
• Minimizing the use of halogen lighting
• Specifying ENERGY STAR® -qualified equipment
• Designing a minimal, flexible display system to limit the amount of materials used