THE ITHACA JOURNAL
January 19, 2010
Energy-efficient town hall near completion in Caroline
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20100119/NEWS01/1190344/Energy-efficient-town-hall-near-completion-in-Caroline
Building features geothermal heat, solar panels
By Simon Wheeler
[email protected]
CAROLINE -- One of the smallest towns in Tompkins County has worked
hard to get its money's worth from its $350,000 new town office
building.
The geo-thermally heated building has an expanded library, office space
for the supervisor, town clerk and code enforcement officer and other
workspaces.
It is designed to use as little energy as possible with no north-facing
windows, low-energy usage lighting, and a solar photovoltaic system
will be installed in February. Supervisor Don Barber anticipates the
solar power will more than cover the needs of the office building. Any
excess power will be sent to the nearby 144-year-old original Town
Hall. Before lighting and computers were installed, heating the
building to 70 degrees for a month cost $68. The new town hall is 2,200
square feet, about the size of a typical house in Tompkins County.
Barber estimates the new building would have cost well over $5,000 to
furnish. The cost seemed too steep. Then, town resident Michael Moran
heard the U.S. District Court in Syracuse, where he works, had excess
furniture that was available.
After inspecting the furniture, the town acquired two desks, three
tables, a wooden filing cabinet, a dozen chairs and rolling cart for
the library. The cost: Free, excluding pickup and delivery. Barber
noted the surplus furniture is heavy-duty stuff, so it should last for
a long time.
Barbara Kone, the chair of the town library committee, organizes about
20 volunteer librarians to keep the now-expanded library open for at
least two hours seven days a week.
The library followed its budget-stretching instincts when it looked for
additional book shelves. Pat Brhel of Brooktondale noted the $1,200
budget would cover only four commercially made shelves. Instead, the
town bought wood and built 22 shelves. Brhel found volunteers in The
Brookton Market to come over to the Brooktondale Community Center to
help finish the staining so the books could be in place by Tuesday
morning.
The building on Slaterville Road was officially opened Tuesday and will
have an open house in April when the solar photovoltaic system is
operating. Town court, meetings and the museum remain at the nearby
original town hall in expanded spaces.
_______________________________________________
For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please
visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for:
[email protected]
http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins
Questions about the list? ask [email protected]
free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
