"THE GREENING OF NEW CANAAN" (AND BEYOND)"

The New Canaan League of Women Voters invites the public to a forum on Wednesday, April 28, at 1:30 p.m., at the Stevens Building at the New Canaan Country School. The forum will address the substance and implications of efforts in the state to encourage the implementation of every possible energy-saving feature in new buildings.
Featured speakers are Bruce Bockstael, Chief Architect for the Connecticut Department of Public Works and Jim Rogers, of James G. Rogers Architects in Norwalk. Mr. Rogers, a New Canaan native and graduate of Country School, designed the Stevens Building, which opened in 2008 and was recognized at the time as the greenest school building in Connecticut. Indeed, it was awarded the highly-coveted Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status.

LEED is an ecology-oriented building certification program run under the auspices of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED concentrates its efforts on improving performance across five key areas of environmental and human health: energy efficiency; indoor environmental quality; materials selection; sustainable site development; and water conservation. Further information is available at their website: www.usgbc.org

Mr. Bockstael, who is responsible for the design and construction of major state capitol building projects, is one of the founders of the Connecticut Green Building Council as well as the Connecticut chapter of the USBGC, and is a member of the Wethersfield Energy Committee. He will present an overview of the state's sustainable status with particular reference to current activities in several towns around the state and what sustainable projects New Canaan could consider undertaking. Growing awareness in the state legislature of the need for, and benefits of, green construction has led to support for several state-funded green building projects. Further, new regulations require all new state buildings costing more than $5 million to comply with LEED Silver regulations.

Mr. Rogers, will discuss the transformation of the original Stevens Building into the LEED Silver building it is today. Some parts of the existing building had to be demolished, and those materials were separated and recycled. A variety of efforts to re-use and conserve enabled an almost seamless transition from the "old" building to the one in which forum attenders will be meeting.

Tours of the Stevens Building will be offered both before and after the forum. The pre-forum tour will begin at 1:00 p.m. For further information about this event, call Karin Naill, New Canaan League of Women Voters Program Chair, at 203.966.4370 or karinnaill@aol.com.