2 States, Lewis & Clark x 2: Preservation and Energy Efficiency

Modern StL's blog did a piece on north county's Lewis & Clark Branch Library. It brings to our attention its status as a threatened landmark. As I drove home early this evening from an all-day training session on the new Illinois, state-wide, energy code at Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, IL,  I pulled into the library as night was falling to take a couple of cell phone pix presented here:

I like the juxtaposition of the primary colors and rectilinear geometry with the bare trees of winter. It is a little jewel box. The Missouri side of the river is having a tough time understanding that the 'greenest' building is the one that is still standing.

On the Illinois side new codes are coming on line that will effect the entire building stock in meaningful ways.

Here is a blurb from the training promo of the event I attended today:


The Illinois Energy Office has announced its schedule for a training series for the 
Illinois construction industry. Home builders, designers, code officials and home 
performance professionals can learn about the newest energy conservation 
codes for new construction, additions and renovation projects in Illinois. 

Sessions run from 8:00AM to 4:30PM. Topics include:
 IECC 2012
 Blower Door Testing
 Duct Leakage Testing
 ASHRAE 90.1-2010
 IGCC 2012

Illinois is adopting this code in January. Missouri has nothing.

Preservation and Energy Efficiency and Sustainability should go hand in hand and things like the 2012 IECC provide some of the guidance required to do a good job of it.

http://www.imt.org/codes/iecc will take you to a few paragraphs on the code. All this technical stuff is about improving comfort and minimizing usage and this comes with some great externalized benefits in the health care and environmental realms.