Elk Grove Village, a municipality located in northeastern Illinois, has opened the main municipal building designed by Illinois-based SRBL Architects in May 2010. The building was designed to be ‘green’ in an attempt to set a standard to the almost 4,000 businesses in the village.
Elk Grove Village has reportedly spent $1.8 million just on environmental aspects of the building. One of the most notable ‘green’ features is a ‘living roof’ spanning 30,000 square feet, which is filled with plants that provide insulation and absorb rain. In seven years, the village expects to recover that investment through savings on natural gas, cooling, heating and water conservation.
During the construction phase, the contractor separated and recycled 90% of the construction debris from the old building. About 72% of the new material used in construction came from within 500 miles of the project, lessening the impact of fuel use on the environment.
The building has been designed to accommodate the village’s administration, police department, health department and Channel 6 community television facilities. The former Village Hall building has been converted to house the engineering and fire administration offices and the council chambers. The old building has also been integrated with some energy-efficiency measures.
The Elk Grove Village is said to be the first municipality in Illinois to get the gold ranking for a newly constructed village hall or public safety building. There are 146 buildings in Illinois that have received the gold LEED ranking.
