Chester County's Green Building
Many Chester County offices, including the offices of the Board of County Commissioners, Controller, Coroner, Finance, Public Information, Recorder of Deeds, Solicitor, and Treasurer are located in a six-story office building located at 313 West Market Street in downtown West Chester. This building, designed by Bernardon Haber Holloway Architects, P.C., with mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering design by Giovaneti Shulman Associates, was designed to achieve certification by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Environmental and Engineering Design (LEED) program. The landlords are Jack Loew and Eli Kahn, and the General Contractor was D. Fickler Construction.
Bernardon Haber Holloway Architects were the project's accredited LEED Professional as well as the project architect, and were responsible for incorporating the LEED requirements into the building's design and submitting the project to the U.S. Green Building Council for its review.
Green Aspects of the Building
The building and its parking areas were designed under LEED for New Construction, Version 2.2.
Some of the Chester County Office's LEED highlights include:
- Because the West Chester Transportation Center is one block away (at 200 West Market Street), the County Office was eligible to receive "Smart Location and Linkage" LEED credit for accessibility to public transit opportunities. Krapf bus service is available, and bicycle storage and changing rooms are planned in the facility. Because the County Office Building is located in West Chester, LEED credit can be achieved by minimizing the impact on "greenfields" and on ecosystems.
- The building is designed to use 40 percent less water and 25 percent less energy than a typical office building of similar size. LEED confers "Energy and Atmosphere" credits for efficiency in water and energy use.
- All of the building's power is designed to be supplied by a "green" energy supplier, which provides 35 percent "green power".
- At least 75 percent of construction waste was diverted from a landfill and recycled, and 25 percent of the building's materials were produced with recycled content. LEED confers "Materials and Resources" credits for efficiency in the use of construction materials.
- 30 percent of the building's materials were obtained either locally or within 500 miles of the job site.
- The interior finishes are low-emitting materials meeting LEED requirements. "Indoor Environmental Quality Credits" are awarded for achieving better indoor air quality.
- All of the new parking is undercover and the roof is made of a reflective material, reducing the urban "heat island" effect.
- The building's design allows for at least 90 percent of all work spaces to have natural lighting and views.
- Water efficient landscaping results in a reduction of irrigation water use by half.
The building's designers targeted a goal of 39 points under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEEDs rating system and earned 38 (narrowly missing LEED's "Gold" rating), thus receiving a Silver rating.
This project exemplified sustainable goals from its very beginning - it was designed to take advantage of a walkable downtown location in a Landscapes2 Urban Landscape, with opportunities for public and alternative transportation, proximity to shopping, restaurants and other services, and incorporates an energy-efficient design.