The Sustainability Treehouse sits at the edge of the Appalachian forest within the 10,600 acres of the Summit Bechtel Reserve. The Summit is the new home for the Boy Scout Jamboree, a High Adventure Base, and a year-round destination for leadership training. In order to create a catalytic project that inspires the Scouts’ movement towards a sustainable future, The Treehouse not only targets the rigorous Living Building Challenge, but was also the first public facility developed at the Summit.

This highly interactive facility serves as an engaging icon of scouting adventure, environmental stewardship and high performance building design. Visitors ascend indoor and outdoor platforms to experience the forest from multiple vantages and engage with educational exhibits that explore the site and ecosystem at the levels of ground, tree canopy and sky. Innovative green building systems—including a 6,450-watt photovoltaic array output, two 4,000-watt wind turbines, and a 1,000-gallon cistern and water cleansing system—combine to yield a net-zero energy and net-zero water facility that touches its site lightly. Overall, the Treehouse captures the wonder of childhood exploration and places environmental education at the forefront of meaningful experiences and camp messages for thousands of annual visitors to take home.

Credits

Client:  Boy Scouts of America

Developer:  Trinity Works

Design Architect: Mithun

Executive Architect/Architect of Record : BNIM

Landscape Architect:  Nelson Byrd Woltz

Structural Engineering : Tipping Mar

MEP Engineer: Integral Group

Exhibit Design: Volume, Inc./ Studio Terpeluk

Lighting Design: Dave Nelson & Associates 

Geotechnical:  S&ME 

Code Consultant: FP&C Consultants

Contractor: Swope Construction