By Brian Cox
Chicago Tribune
SKOKIE, Ill. — When the $30 million Skokie police station opens next year, it will be one of the most environmentally friendly facilities of its kind in the country, even down to the way lead bullets are removed from the firing range.
Village officials resolved that the new space should include as many environmentally friendly components as possible, said Dane Smith, assistant to the police chief.
“We integrated the ‘green’ concept to the point where it became part and parcel of the project,” Smith said.
The 72,000-square-foot building will have extra wall and roof insulation, a state-of-the-art air distribution system, energy-efficient lighting, energy-efficient boilers and recycling programs.
The village is also applying to the U.S. Green Building Council to have the facility certified for LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is an internationally recognized “green” building certification system.
The village, Smith said, expects to see energy savings of up to 25 percent when the station opens in November 2010. Construction is under way on the new building in the 7300 block of Niles Center Road.
“It’s the implementation of a mind-set that we want to preserve resources and be as environmentally friendly as we can be,” Smith said.
“We outgrew the old building years ago,” said Police Chief Barry Silverberg. “That building was never designed for the modern technology we use today.”
Mayor George Van Dusen said the station will be paid for through a combination of reserves, issuing bonds and a 3 percent increase in the telecommunications tax.
“We planned the financing for it for at least three years now,” said Van Dusen. “We have a community and police department that is first rate, and it’s about time we had a first-rate station to go along with that.”
Copyright 2009 Chicago Tribune