Although Commissioner Margaret Stinnett called the effort a “seventy-eight thousand dollar plaque,” three of the five Wake Forest commissioners agreed Monday to go ahead with a plan to add solar panels to the new town hall’s roof to assure the building will be certified as Platinum LEED, the highest rating possible.
          Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell told the board members at the mid-year retreat that the LEED point total is now at 52, the threshold for platinum certification. “We’re LEED gold. We wanted to make the building as green as we could make it,” he said, but there is a possibility of losing a point as the town and the contractor assemble the documentation that will be submitted to the adjudicator at the end of September.
          Adding the solar panels will mean another two points, O’Donnell said, and will also provide 2.5 percent of the buildings annual power needs – equivalent to 13 hair dryers running full blast. “We made sure the design of the roof system was sufficient to put in solar panels.”
          O’Donnell said they have to have the design and installation quote in hand before submitting the LEED request, but they already have two quotes and the preferred one is for $78,000.
          The LEED platinum designation would be the first for a town hall in North Carolina and only the second throughout the country.
          Commissioners seemed a bit wary at first, with Commissioner Frank Drake asking about a water garden – not feasible since it is a white, reflective roof with a drain system to channel rainwater into a cistern for reuse – taking the chance by applying first without the panels, then retrofitting and reapplying.
          O’Donnell and Town Manager Mark Williams added a spoonful of sugar to the expensive dose by explaining that the town is already hoping to recoup the $78,000 through a state energy grant applied for with the Wake County Public School System. There is a fifty-fifty chance of receiving the grant.
          Also, having the solar panels means the town will not have to add an internal submetering system to the building, saving $35,000.
          “I think the solar panels should have already been up there,” Commissioner Anne Hines said.
          Right now the town hall cost is under the architect’s estimate of $14 million. The construction contract was for $11.5 million, Williams said, and the change orders pending will add $500,000.
          “I’ll take the hit on this,” Commissioner Peter Thibodeau said, joining Drake and Hines in agreeing to the solar panels.
          LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. An independent board certifies the four levels of awards.