ONTARIO: Gets First Gold Of The Summer
ONTARIO GETS FIRST GOLD OF SUMMER
The City of Ontario California celebrated the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification of its recently renovated City Hall. LEED is the U.S. Green Building Council’s leading rating system for designing and constructing green energy efficient buildings. As the population of Ontario grew, the Mayor and City Council saw the need to provide a facility that better served its citizens. Through a commitment to fiscal responsibility and environmental stewardship, the multi-story building serves the needs of the community and business by providing more efficient building systems, and a healthy operating environment for employees, which ultimately translates to cost savings and improved customer service. The renovated facility at 303 East B Street in Ontario continues to fulfill the City Council’s vision of a “Complete Community” Environment.
Using LEED as a framework to guide the development process, the City met the difficult challenge of maintaining the architectural integrity of the 30 year old concrete structure while integrating new technologies. Reuse of the building’s core was a key component to conserving natural resources. The City added value by installing a cool roof, dual pane insulated windows, and louvers to reduce heat and energy needs. The interior renovation included materials with a high recycle content, utilized the latest in technology infrastructure such as energy efficient lighting, natural light via skylights and variable speed heating and air conditioning systems. The City continued its efforts by adding drought tolerant California native landscaping, permeable courtyard pavers, a vegetative roof system; all to reduce runoff and thermal heat gain.
City officials originally anticipated achieving a LEED Silver rating but were pleased at the opportunity to achieve a Gold rating. As Mayor Paul Leon stated, “We set out to not only make our City buildings more energy efficient, but also to encourage Ontario residents to adopt sustainable features in their own homes or businesses. This is a great way to demonstrate our long term commitment to providing leadership in sustainable practices that reduce our carbon footprint, make economic sense, and provide value to the community as part of our Complete
Community vision.”
The LEED process provided the platform for City staff working closely with design and construction experts Robert Borders and Associates, Glumac, Collaborative Project Consulting, and Turner Construction, to meet the project goals. The LEED Gold certification recognizes the City’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and environmental stewardship and provides a model of future public and private projects in the City.