Espous”™ new Town Hall may make its municipal neighbors green with envy.
While new heating and cooling technology and a $5.2 million price tag caused some consternation for residents when initially proposed, the new building may be well on its way to becoming a model for other counties and states to study and imitate. The old Town Hall”™s $70,000 annual heating and cooling bills could factor into such appraisals.
The 24,000-square-foot building boasts the latest in geo-thermal technology. Architect and builder Joe Hurwitz, president of Hurwitz & Associates in Hurley, drilled down 400 feet, “where the temperature is always 58 degrees. It”™s a lot easier to warm the building when it is 58 degrees than when it is 10 degrees and it will remain comfortable no matter how hot it gets outside.” The buildings many angles that worried skeptics have been neatly filled with a creative and well-planned maze of offices and community space, as well as incorporating an emergency command center for the town.
“We are even equipped for emergency housing should the need ever arise,” said Supervisor John Coutant. “We do have emergency events, and now we are prepared to handle them, whether it is a storm or a family displaced by a fire.”
For Coutant, the relationship he formed with Hurwitz during his time as a member of the Town Board when the project was first introduced and working with him now as the municipality”™s supervisor, “has been terrific. The best part about this entire project is not only does it benefit every resident of our town for years to come, but we also kept it local.” Save for one contractor, everyone who had a hand in building the new municipal building came from the Hudson Valley.
“When people think ”˜local,”™ they often just think of fruits and vegetables or tourism,” said Coutant. “We have a wealth of talent here in the region, and Joe Hurwitz and his team were terrific, contactable and dedicated. I can”™t imagine we”™d have had the same level of cooperation and the positive working relationship we enjoyed if we had not been working with a company or contractors that did not have a vested interest in the community.”
“He”™s absolutely right,” said Hurwitz, who was chosen to design and build the new structure three years ago. “They know where to find me if they aren”™t happy. We do have an amazing wealth of talent here in the region, and the contractors who worked on this project live here and depend on the community to stay viable. It”™s in their best interests to do the best job they can. This building speaks for itself in terms of quality and dedication to getting it right.
“Initially, we had some residents who were against the project, especially when they realized we were not building a conventional building,” Hurwitz said. “It truly is a vision of what building will be in the future and it reflects the time it is built in, the 21st century, incorporating all of the newest technology available out there.
“In addition, the fact that we built it with the idea of making it carbon-free and did it on time and on budget is going to get some attention from other municipalities considering going green, allowing them to see for themselves that it can be done and is cost-effective.”
During the building tour, Coutant pointed out that most of the lights were off. “Joe and his team designed the building to maximize our ability to use natural light as much as possible,” said the supervisor. “There are actually some rooms that are so bright we have to put in shades so people can see their computer screens.”
That natural lighting is going to be used more proactively, since Esopus is in the process of issuing a request for proposals for the installation of a photovoltaic array that, when installed, will provide enough electricity for the building, providing it with a carbon-free footprint. Hurwitz and his team will again be on board to look over the RFP”™s and facilitate the installation of the new solar technology.
“The right side of the building seems the ideal location … and since we realize this is relatively new technology, we are not sure of how much the RFPs are going to come in at,” said Coutant. “I do know one thing: it is costing us $70,000 a year to heat and cool this building conventionally. The town board is very positive about the use of solar power, and we believe it will help cut our costs significantly and be a great savings to the town in the long term. We can”™t determine what the final price of the installation will be until NYSERDA (New York State Energy and Research Development Authority) lets us know how much of a grant we would qualify for. Then we”™ll have to check the town”™s bankbook to make sure we can cover it. But working with Joe and his staff. We are not only confident that it can be done, but will be done and done right.”
The town”™s new municipal center is built on four acres donated by one of its residents, the late Jack Spinnenweber; the additional 21 acres behind it were purchased by the town for future expansion. “We are planning ahead,” said Coutant. “We realize the town is growing ”“ perhaps a bit slowly now because of the economy ”“ but eventually, we”™ll need the room. We want to have it ready and waiting when that time comes.”
