Dedication ceremony held for new office building
Community Action of Fayette County held a ceremony Friday to open an 18,500-square-foot “green” office building in Uniontown that was designed to be energy-efficient, friendly to the environment and healthy for workers. “This building is your building,” Community Action Executive Director James M. Stark said to the audience at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The ceremony included a surprise announcement that Westmoreland County Community College (WCCC) will begin offering classes next year in one of the four other buildings on Community Action’s campus on North Beeson Boulevard.
While Stark highlighted some of the high-tech gadgetry that help make the two-story building energy-efficient, he said the building is designed to serve the 15,000 to 20,000 people who annually visit Community Action’s campus.
The “green” building is one the four buildings on the campus where the agency provides a variety of social, medical, training and educational services.
The first floor of the new building will house Community Action’s finance, human resources, planning, property management and administration offices.
Located on the second floor is the state Department of Labor and Industry’s Worker’s Compensation Office of Adjudication and 1,500 square feet of space available for additional tenants.
Stark said the administrative offices were moved from the Family Service Center building, which will be renovated to allow the agency’s dental service program to expand.
The rest of the Family Service Center is where WCCC will hold its classes.
Dr. Steven C. Ender, WCCC president, said the school would move in by January 2008 and offer 140 courses in 65 programs.
WCCC’s director of workforce development will work with local companies to design classes that teach the skills needed in local business and industry, Ender said.
“Everybody wants to be involved with a winner and this is a winner,” Ender said.
The school will occupy 5,000 square feet in the Family Service Center.
However, the “green” building was in the spotlight Friday.
Since the building was completed in December, it has cost 30 percent less to operate than the Family Service Center, which opened in 1998, and 50 percent less than the Community Service Center building, which opened in 1989, said Stark.
Construction methods, materials and design make the building less expensive to operate and healthier for employees and the environment, said Mark Altman of Altman and Altman Architects of Uniontown, which designed the building.
Gregory R. Asbee, an architect intern with Altman and Altman, said the building would reduce the amount of pollutants that traditional office buildings create through air conditioning, heating and plumbing systems.
The new building, where about 20 of the agency’s 95 employees will work, does not use natural gas, he said.
Among the key “green” components is a geo-thermal heating and cooling system, which pumps a liquid through 30 250-feet deep wells under the parking lot into the building to raise or lower the inside temperature, Asbee said.
The geo-thermal system uses electricity, which Community Action will get from a wind farm, only to run pumps and fans, he said.
Another major component is the energy-recovery unit, which, on a warm day like Friday, would pull in hot air from outside and cool it by mixing it with inside air that was cooled using a heat pump, Asbee said. The air is then circulated throughout the building.
Sensors that detect carbon dioxide, which people expel as they breathe, trigger the energy-recovery system when they detect certain levels of carbon dioxide.
The hot water tank runs less often because water is pumped to a thermal collector on the roof where it is pre-heated before entering the tank, he said.
Occupancy sensors turn off room lights after everyone leaves, Asbee said.
Insulation used in the building is made from recycled newspaper, he said, adding that most of the building materials are recycled materials.
There are water-free urinals that use chemical cartridges to prevent odors from escaping and water-thrifty toilets.
Other materials, such as paint, adhesives, carpeting and welding flux, do not emit odors because they contain no “volatile organic compounds,” Asbee said.
“This structure represents the most innovative current technology of energy conservation and environmental stewardship,” said Uniontown Mayor James Sileo.
Sileo also commended Community Action for developing what once was a deteriorated area into a campus that proves services to county residents.
“That’s what it’s all about, helping people make their lives better,” said county Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites.
“There’s gadgets throughout this building,” said state Rep. Timothy Mahoney, D-South Union Township. “It’s a very impressive building.”
Other guests included state Rep. Ted. R. Harhai, D-Monessen, and Lou Boykins, deputy director of the Governor’s Southwest Regional office, and several Community Action board members.
The total cost of construction, land acquisition and professional fees was about $3.7 million, Stark said.
Of that amount, $900,000 came though a deal with Uniontown City Council. Council kept $600,000 of a $1.5 million state capital redevelopment grant to help pay for the new garage on Penn Street and gave the rest to Community Action for the building.
Stark said the agency received a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
The agency financed about half of the project cost and received a 3 percent interest from the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, he said.