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One example is in the city of Post Falls, Idaho–a small, working-class town that sits between Coeur d'Alene and Spokane. The town, nicknamed Idaho's River City, is near numerous rivers and lakes, including the scenic Spokane River, which runs along the southern edge of town. The natural beauty of the area attracts enough tourists to fill the town's two hotels every summer, and recently many people have begun making their homes in Post Falls for the same reason.
The town's population has nearly tripled, up to 22,000, in the past 15 years, and the influx of residents has brought many changes for Post Falls. New building construction grew by leaps and bounds in the 1990s and is only now beginning to level off. But that construction has had little guidance or direction, and Post Falls now looks like so many other small towns in the Inland Northwest: a cluttered mess of one-story buildings hastily thrown up along the main streets.
Unlike many other small towns, though, Post Falls is dedicated to changing its ways. A major revitalization project is underway that will bring back the look and feel of an early 20th century, pedestrian-friendly town center. The centerpiece of the renewal is a new 36,000-sq-ft city hall. It will be like nothing anyone had ever seen a hundred years ago.
I exited I-90 at Idaho exit 5, the Post Falls town center exit, wondering how I would find City Hall. That worry quickly passed. City hall is conveniently located right at the end of the off-ramp. It is a drab, single-story building with a small clock tower and few windows. I arrived just as the first public meeting regarding the new city hall was beginning.
Gary Young, director of Post Falls community development and project manager for construction, began by explaining the city's goals. In simplest terms, he says, the goal is to design a building that uses less energy. To accomplish that end, planners must implement a design process that integrates all disciplines of design, says Young.
The most important part of such an integrated approach is collaboration from the earliest stages of the process. Dozens of people, from architects and engineers to lighting and funding specialists, all gathered in Post Falls to discuss seemingly minor details like lights and waterless urinals in a building still a year away from groundbreaking.
After the meeting, we took a brief tour of the new building site, which includes the site of the current town hall. It, along with several other buildings on the site, will be torn down. Only the historic (and attractive) parks and recreation building will remain. The new city hall will be located between I-90 and 4th avenue, which is to become a new sort of "main street" under the revitalization plan.
Excited from seeing the site and the architects' preliminary building design, we headed to the public library to begin what is called a design charrette. Ken Baker, owner of K Energy in Boise, Idaho, facilitated the event.
The idea behind the charrette, he explains, is to bring people from different backgrounds together to discuss what they would like to see in an energy-efficient building. The discussions are meant to give each project member a sense of all the different things that will go into the project. At the same time, days of discussion and brainstorming often lead to new ideas for improving the building.
The end goal of all this work is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED is a points-based system that awards different levels of certification to buildings for things like using recycled materials, decreasing water consumption, and bringing in daylight.
This may seem like a lot for a small town to be taking on. There are only a few thousand LEED-certified buildings in the country, and few were built in small towns. "People that grow up or live in this area recreate or spend time in the outdoors," Young says. "You develop that environmental awareness just from being around it."
There are other reasons for building an energy efficient building, too. In the first thirty years of a building's life, only about two percent of the cost comes from design and construction. Energy and the cost of staff make up the other 98 percent. The decrease in energy use and the increase in worker productivity certainly make up for the additional cost, which may be as little as a few percent increase over a conventional design.
The city of Post Falls expects to pay more than just a few percent more for the new town hall, but in the long run they are sure it is worth it. They are also expecting to get funding for the project, for which they have raised $5 million of the estimated $7 million needed. "The commitment to go green attracts funding,” says Jan McAdams, a Las Vegas consultant who helps developers find funding for green buildings.
On the first day of the charrette, participants gathered in the public library to work out their goals for the building. Comfort and energy efficiency are obviously primary goals, but providing leadership and education in the community are also stressed.
On the second day, more specific goals are considered. How would the building conserve water? How could daylight be incorporated to reduce lighting and heating costs? What can be done to prevent the parking lot from turning into a massive heat island?
Some of the most exciting ideas included xeriscaping, or planting native plants that will not need any more water than what falls from the sky. The city also hopes to use local and recycled materials in construction of the building. Solar panels and rainwater collection systems to power the building and flush the toilets were also considered. "We hadn't talked about using solar panels before,” said Cory Trapp, an architect with GD Longwell Architects who is working on designing the building.
However, "the majority of what we talked about here we were already planning on doing,” he says. "Daylighting is going to be a big impact,” adds Rich Murakami, the project's other architect from Arai Jackson Ellison Murakami Architecture.
Helping Post Falls make the most of their daylight is Judy Theodorson, a daylighting expert from WSU Spokane. She has helped many building owners and developers bring in daylight, not only to decrease electric bills, but also to create more inviting spaces. "When we walk into a building that is full of light, we just like it,” she says.
Theodorson recently received funding to build a daylighting lab at WSU Spokane. The lab, funded by Betterbricks, an initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, will provide valuable tools for designing daylit buildings once construction is complete this summer. The lab will have the two main tools used by daylighting experts: a heliodon and an overcast sky simulator.
The heliodon uses a tilting table and a theater light for the sun. Building models are put on the table and light conditions can be simulated for any time, any day of the year. Using the model, daylighting experts can see where to place windows and skylights to achieve the most beneficial lighting effect.
The overcast sky simulator creates diffuse light over a large area to mimic the feel of a cloudy day, where the light shining through the clouds can be far brighter than a patch of blue sky. It is important to consider the outcome both when it is sunny and when it is cloudy to maximize the building's efficiency.
And that is what green buildings are all about: maximizing efficiency. "The building has to do the work,” says Theodorson. That is why she and the architects think one major change may have to be made to the preliminary design.
The building, which is L-shaped, has its long axis pointing east-west, with the largest face of the building facing south. This is good for daylighting, except that the front area is currently designed to be a corridor. It doesn't make much sense to put a corridor along the main bank of windows in the building, says Theodorson, but it a problem she often sees. Too many builders want a pretty façade, she says, so they spend most of their glass budget on sparkling entrances, when really the windows should be in offices and classrooms where they will do some good.
There is still plenty of time to work out the issues with the building's design, and there is clear that commitment to designing a green building. The city of Post Falls is setting an example for the community that may encourage others to think about conservation.
Chris Wentz studied biochemistry and science writing at the University of Washington.
Image: The historic parks and recreation building has been home to many different businesses. It is the only building on the new City Hall site that will be saved. Photo: Chris Wentz
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