ECOfreak: City LEEDS with New Building

By Desiree Parker Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Every time I drive down Lafayette Street in the city, I get excited to see the progress being made on the new addition to the municipal building.

Why would I be excited about that, you ask? Well, it’s a green project that will earn a LEED certification of silver, if not better – and it’ll help mitigate all the energy that’s currently wasted in the main part of the building, which was built in the 1980s when people didn’t think too much about this stuff.

Why did the city decide to go green with this renovation project?

"Council has made environmental sustainability and stewardship of the environment one of its major priorities and we included in our RFP the requirement that the new building be LEED certified," said Jack Tuttle, city manager.  "The current building was built more than twenty years ago… and is not as energy efficient as a building can and should be. One of the great things about this project is that by being green it results in enormous energy and cost savings. That's a win-win for everyone."

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

I stopped by Guernsey Tingle’s architectural firm to chat with Andrew Cronan, who’s been working on the city’s project.

He explained that the current building is losing lots of energy right now due to various issues (like poor insulation in some areas and a poor heat system), which will be fixed once the addition is complete. In fact, once all the improvements are finished, Cronan says he expects the city will see a 40 or 50 percent energy savings in the older building area.

Some of the new design features include geothermal heating and air conditioning (they’ve drilled 96 wells, with 184 pipes coming out, which is a mind-boggling number for such a small patch of land); pervious pavement (which allows stormwater to trickle slowly into the ground rather than forcing it to rush headlong into the drains); lots of insulation; high performance windows; tight sealing of the building to keep air from leaking out (or in); 40 percent less water use; and light controls to reduce wasted energy.

Even when it comes to the outside of the building, environmental sensitivity is important in a LEED project, so the expansion will include native plants.

Another aspect of green design that people don’t always think about is where building materials come from. This project will pick up 20 percent of its supplies from regional distributors, which means less pollution (from the shipping and delivery side of things).

Ten percent of the materials used will be recycled, too – most of this will be recycled metal, according to Cronan. Also, at least 75 percent of the construction waste will be recycled, he says.

The project also came in way under budget, Cronan says, which is not just due to the recession, but also the fact that many builders have more experience with green design and building, and materials are a little easier to get.

I asked him which of these elements homeowners should think about when building or renovating. To get the biggest bang for your buck, he says, people should invest in sealing the leaks in their homes (or, if building new, do what you can to seal your home completely). This will go a long way to reducing your heating and cooling bills.

His firm has been working on incorporating green design into projects for a long time, and the idea is finally gaining traction, which he’s excited about.

One aspect of the new expansion that will be really fun and unusual (if it actually comes to fruition), according to Cronan, will be the educational aspect of the new area. The goal is to put in signs explaining the green features of the building’s design, and maybe even computer kiosks which will report timely energy usage to visitors. How neat is that?

Hats off to the city for being a leader in green building and sustainable practices! I’ll be one of the first in line to tour the new part of the building when it’s done.

Web site for the week
If you want to know more about the project, take a peek at the city’s page on the project. There are more facts about what’s going on, along with a timeline for when things will be likely be completed. I understand they’ll be adding a link soon to some more details about the project, so stay tuned!

Tip for the week
Our buddies at Energy Star have great tips on how to seal your home and save lots of money. Visit their Web site and think about getting your home evaluated by a professional.