Erie, Pennsylvania Celebrates the City’s First LEED Gold Project: The Erie Art Museum
Green Building Alliance, City officials, project team members and Erie residents participate in a free afternoon program called The Art of Being Green.
The Erie Art Museum hosted a celebration Sunday honoring the green building certification awarded by the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program for its recently opened renovation and addition. evolveEA served as sustainability consultant for the project, coordinating the architects at Edge Studio (now GBBN), museum stakeholders and the rest of the project team to ensure high level and cost-effective LEED certification. The project is Erie’s first to achieve LEED Gold certification, the second-highest level of sustainability achievement in the LEED rating system. This local team had no experience with LEED, but embraced it as an organizing framework. As EAM Director John Vanco mentioned in his remarks, “Green buildings are an essential aspect of humanity’s response to the monumental task of addressing global climate change.”
evolveEA also designed the green building education graphics, which include signs posted throughout the museum to explain some of the building’s sustainable design features, brochures and a tour program designed to further explain these concepts. Sunday’s event also featured presentations by Erie Mayor Joseph Sinnott, and evolveEA Principals Marc and Christine Mondor, representing both evolveEA and the Green Building Alliance. The event attracted many families from the Erie area who enjoyed a LEED scavenger hunt led by museum staff, free access to the galleries and arts and crafts making. Located in Downtown Erie, the museum has a diverse visitor base and stands as a cultural and educational hub for tens of thousands of visitors annually.
Architect Anne Chen of GBBN and LEED consultant Marc Mondor of evolveEA joined Erie Art Museum Director John Vanco and Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott for the unveiling of the LEED Gold plaque in the museum lobby. The Erie Times-News quoted Mondor referring to the project as “a building that is a symbol to the whole community about what is possible.” Mayor Sinnott stated that the museum is a model for future green buildings in Erie.
The Erie Art Museum is a wonderful example of a project that addressed sustainability comprehensively. With a progressive owner that really encouraged us to explore, sustainability goals of site infiltration, building reuse, clean air, high energy and water efficiency were pursued and have been operationally instituted. The addition is a gorgeous architecturally-striking plaza and entry that lets in copious, yet controlled amounts of daylight. This was the first time that most of the team members had worked on a LEED project, and everyone really pulled their weight. We’re also pleased that the building is a centrally-located, historic and well-regarded community anchor. — Marc Mondor
Certified in 2014, the Erie Art Museum was evolveEA’s 50th LEED Certified Project since our founding in 2004.
Local news coverage of the event includes the following links:
Erie museum celebrates ‘Art of Being Green’
Erie Art Museum Acquires LEED Certification