First Net-Zero Government Building in Illinois Opens in Countryside
FAIRFAX, Va. — City officials recently celebrated the opening of the Countryside Municipal Complex in Illinois, the state’s first net-zero government building. The 34,500-square-foot, three-story building, designed to produce as much energy annually as it uses, replaces a 1960s-era city hall and police department. Designed by Dewberry, the building features a broad array of sustainable technologies as well as a flexible and modern environment for police and civic operations.
Dewberry provided architecture; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering; structural engineering; geothermal bore field design; energy modeling; technology, audio-visual, and security design; grant proposal assistance; and net-zero energy educational signage design. Although not originally intended as a net-zero building, comprehensive energy modeling combined with design strategies that included a highly efficient continuous air barrier, a carefully tested thermal envelope featuring continuous insulation and glazing with a ceramic frit pattern, and a geothermal mechanical system demonstrated early on that a net-zero performance was attainable.