The Elizabeth River Project has agreed to a rolling conservation easement for the land on which they are building their new $8.1 million headquarters. The project is intended to be a 6,500-square-foot laboratory that incorporates strategies to reduce the building’s environmental impact and will serve as a resiliency solution that can be replicated by homeowners and developers in areas that are expected to be impacted by sea level rise. The strategies include stormwater collection for indoor reuse, as well as energy efficiency approaches.
The building is located in a floodplain and is likely to be submerged in coming decades as sea level rises and storms intensify. The design showcases strategies for the building to remain in place longer, but the nonprofit acknowledges that rising waters will eventually overtake the land. At this point, the rolling conservation easement ensures that when certain trigger points are reached, the nonprofit will demolish the building and abandon the site. Rolling conservation easements have been in a few states, but only by public bodies. This project represents the first time this type of easement has been used by a private body.
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