I’ve worked in the City County Building for a decade now, or as I like to say, a whole tenth of a century. Over time, I’ve changed my feelings on it a bit. I’ve gone from hating the boxy structure to gaining a grudging appreciation of a few of its architectural merits. Recently, the CCB has been undergoing a renovation and installation of environmentally-friendly features, which helps extend the life of the building while cutting down on its impact.
The Department of Sustainability has issued this press release on this and other projects around the city. Page 24 details the scope of the project.
One of the cooler aspects of the project are these wind and solar powered lights:
Lastly, there is a nifty-looking website where one can see the before-and-after affects of this renovation.
I’d like to see more of these green renovations in other public buildings around the city.  For instance, the Main Library’s atrium is a gorgeous public space, but it has to be an energy hog.  Regardless, the City County building is a good and obvious place to start the process.
I am glad the City-County Building has been renovated and made more energy efficient. I am afraid I still have not developed any appreciation for whatever supposed architectural merits the building possesses. It is an ugly building. That said, it is still a city asset and it is a wise investment by the city to ensure the public gets the maximum useful life out of the building while lowering operating costs.
As for the Main Library, it is a relatively new building, so I would assume it already incorporates many energy efficient features that would have been uncommon or even unheard of in the early 1960s when the City-County Building was constructed. While I know even a newer building can be made greener, I recognize there are practical limits as to what can be done. With respect to the atrium, I am not sure how it could be made more energy efficient, aside from using energy efficient glass, which either was already used in its construction, or if it was not, would be too cost prohibitive, at least in a newer building operated by an agency already facing a serious budget deficit, to replace the existing glass with. My suggestion would be too focus greening efforts on the many older properties owned by local government entities, especially the ones already scheduled for renovation.
Looking with a “design eye”: I wonder if the solar panels could have been turned 90 degrees so that their panels and divisions would reflect/mimic/repeat the pattern of the CCB tower (instead of clashing with it).
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Details ARE architecture, according to Witold Rybczynski.
Interesting. I didn’t notice that.
One of the energy cost saving measures was to turn of the bathroom fans…..
Sorry – meant : was to turn off the bathroom fans…..