Farmington Hills' new city hall -- with a range of energy-efficient features -- will be shown off at an open house and re-dedication ceremony next week.
The celebration comes after an 18-month renovation of what had been a hodge-podge of buildings and additions to the original 1950s building. It hardly made for efficient working or energy-saving conditions. The new city hall boasts a laundry list of new, green features -- glass, skylights and translucent wall panels to let in daylight; a 40-well geothermal heating system; solar thermal hot water heating; solar photovoltaic system; a green roof; native landscaping; and many other features.
"We tried to make this building as sustainable as our budget would allow," says city management assistant Nate Geinzer. "Using less energy also saves us money, and allows us to use those dollars in other places."
He estimates that the project is about 95 percent complete, with a few punch list items still to be taken care of. No cost savings quite yet, but models of the project estimate the city will save about $30,000 in energy annually off of the previous average of $80,000 each year. The heating system is also estimated to be 68 percent more efficient.
The project came in just under the $8 million budget, with the solar photovoltaic panels covered by a block grant, and the rest allocated by the city over time so as not to raise taxes. The price works out to have about a 20-year payback with energy savings, according to the models.
Geinzer says the old building, built in the 1950s, had leaky roofs and old wood windows -- "You could practically fly a kite in the office," he jokes. Plus, between the original building and six or seven different additions over the years, he estimated, the hall used 14 different HVAC systems. "That alone was worth going to one geothermal system," he says.
The city hall also serves as a means to educate the public and to give them ideas about what they can do in their own homes, he says. He hopes to track energy savings live on the city's Web site and via other informational postings throughout the hall.
The public space has also seen other improvements, including wider corridors, and the work space is more efficiently organized.
The city is working toward LEED gold certification for the project; the design submissions are in and construction items are soon to be submitted. The city will probably know by early next year whether the building has accumulated enough points.
The re-dedication will be next Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 5:00 p.m. The city hall is at 31555 Eleven Mile Road at Orchard Lake Road, and has public parking access from both Eleven Mile and Orchard Lake roads. To learn more, click here.
Source: Nate Geinzer, Farmington Hills management assistant
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
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