The West Kelowna RCMP Detachment has earned a silver certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED®.

Mayor Doug Findlater said the District of West Kelowna is proud of the recognition received from the Canada Green Building Council.

“The RCMP detachment holds a special place for Council because it was the first building project we deliberated over and agreed to build,” said Findlater. “I recall Council wrestling over the construction costs for our new municipality and debating the merits of many of the environmental design elements and whether we could afford them all. As it happened, we made a controversial decision to delay tendering the project by one year and saved approximately $1 million.”

Findlater stated that ultimately Council made the right decision to build the West Kelowna RCMP Detachment and retain the energy efficiencies and environmentally friendly design elements to lower emissions and to reduce building’s long term operating costs.

“What we have is a building that is highly functional for the RCMP members who serve and protect our community, a legacy landmark for Westbank Centre and an example of the kind of environmentally conscious structure that can be built on a tight budget.”

The 1,767 square-metre West Kelowna RCMP Detachment opened in October 2010 and was built at a total cost of $8.46 million. The RCMP, E-Division, have committed to paying 53% of the operational and debt servicing costs through lease agreements. Green features of the building include:

-  Contaminated soil removal and site reclamation of the former Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure works yard
-  Roof planted with natural vegetation to filter pollutants and carbon dioxide, reduce energy costs and manage storm water
-  An underground cistern that catches and stores rainwater that can later be used for landscape irrigation
-  Solar panels for heating the building’s water
-  Low flow plumbing
-  Efficient lighting and high use of natural daylight in 90% of indoor spaces to reduce energy consumption
-  At least 20% of materials produced regionally
-  Use of low emission products including paint, carpet and adhesives
-  Diversion of 75% of construction waste from landfill through recycling or reuse
-  Bicycle storage facilities included and transit service provided nearby

For more information on the West Kelowna RCMP please go to www.districtofwestkelowna.ca and click on Departments/Policing—RCMP.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014