Sycamore Township Fire Station & Community Center

The new Sycamore Township Fire Station 93 and Community Center, 11580 Deerfield Road, Sycamore Township, OH 45249 is a great example of what a community can do going Green, from a hugh solar PV array to some cool skylights and heat recovery units. Here’s a link to some photos.

LEED Highlights:
– LEED Documentation done by Neyer Properties, Inc.
– 289 Solar PV Panels may generate as much as 60 Kw for 75 to 95% of the buildings electric needs
– 9 Geo-thermal wells help make the HVAC up to 40% more efficient
– Some assistance from a Ohio Department of Development grant

From Cincinnati.com, “Sycamore firehouse has ‘green’ look

SYCAMORE TWP. – A new $4 million firehouse to serve northern Sycamore Township will feature a high-tech community meeting room, geo-thermal heating and three banks of electricity-producing solar panels is near completion. Located at 1580 Deerfield Road, just north of Interstate 275, the firehouse will replace one on Solzman Road. The township has another firehouse on Kenwood Road to serve the southern half of the community. The firefighters will move into the new facility near the end of August or early September, Sycamore Township Administrator Rob Molloy said. Township officials are excited about the energysaving and environmental-friendly features of the structure. The solar panels are expected to produce at least 90 percent of the facility’s electricity needs, Molloy said. The average monthly electrical bill for Sycamore’s firehouse on Kenwood Road is about $2,400, he said. Township Trustee Tom Weidman, who strongly advocated a “green” firehouse, says he believes the facility can attain the gold level of environmental certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., that encourages “green” building and development practices. That’s the second highest level, following platinum. “We would be the first community east of the Rockies to have a gold-certified firehouse,” Weidman said. In addition to the solar panels and geo-thermal heating, the firehouse also has low-flow plumbing fixtures, stained concrete floors, painted concrete-block interior walls and a standing-seam metal roof. The energy-efficient features will save the township a lot of money in the long run and will enable the building to last for at least the next 50 years, Molloy said. No township general fund money was spent on the new firehouse or the solar panels.

The firehouse was built through tax-increment-financing (TIF), which enables tax revenue to be set aside from increased property values for public improvements. Sycamore received $145,000 from the Ohio Department of Development and $5,000 from Duke Energy to help pay for the $347,000 solar-panel system. TIF money paid for the rest. The new firehouse is part of an 18-acre site the township is developing into a park. The park will have four soccer fields, a baseball diamond, a walking trail that will encircle the site, a road salt storage facility and a maintenance building. The athletic fields will be ready for play next spring. The township will hold a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new firehouse 4 p.m. Aug. 22. Tommy James & the Shondells and Ooh La La & the Greasers will perform at the festivities. Food and refreshments will be available. Parking will be available at marked shuttle lots.”

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