WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School this week learned that the $64 million adddition/renovation project at the middle-high school achieved LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The council's approval of the project's sustainable elements ensures the district 2 percentage points on its reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
That should translate to about $1 million of the total share the state authority will contribute to the project when all is said and done, said Hugh Daley, a Williamstown Select Board member and part of the finance working group of the district's School Building Committee.
Daley pointed out that the $1 million reimbursement in question was factored into the budget for the building project that the district presented to Williamstown and Lanesborough in 2016.
In other words, the certification does not bring "new" savings, but it does help keep the project on budget.
"This achievement ensures that the project will be reimbursed at the maximum possible rate for our project," Daley said.
In announcing the certification this week, Mount Greylock Superintendent Kimberley Grady agreed that most of the elements that led to the LEED Silver certification involved selection of building materials or monitoring procedures that did not significantly add to the cost of the project.
On the other hand, in addition to increasing the MSBA reimbursement, LEED components like a design that "optimize[s] energy performance" will save the district in the operation cost of the new Mount Greylock.
"LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world," according to the USGBC website. "Available for virtually all building types, LEED provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership."
Daley praised everyone involved in reaching the LEED Silver goal on the project.
"It is a very important accomplishment by the Superintendent, the Mount Greylock staff, and the project team," he said.
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WCMA Community Forum on New Museum Building Project
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) invites the community to a forum to learn more about the new museum building project at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10.
The forum, which will be held in the Williams Inn Ballroom, will kick off the WCMA building project construction phase, slated to begin this fall. Learn about the project schedule and expectations, review updated designs, and hear from our landscape architect, Reed Hildebrand, for a special landscape design presentation.
The new Williams College Museum of Art is conceived to serve the college, the local community and visitors to the Berkshires.
According to a press release, the new museum will be a space designed with students in mind, fostering a sense of belonging for campus members and the wider community, and an inclusive experience for all visitors. The building will offer substantial gallery space for showing more of the 15,000 works in the museum’s collection, as well as facilities for easy access to collections for student, faculty, and visiting scholar requests, and more object study classrooms.
The Conservation Commission on Thursday reviewed a refined version of the site plan for a planned four-home subdivision off Summer Street. click for more
Milne Trustees vice chair Jared Della Rocca appeared before the Select Board on Tuesday to detail some of the new initiatives that expand both the library’s mission and its access to the community. click for more
After more than two hours of discussion, the board voted 3-1 to select Neely after two rounds of voting where the four remaining elected officials were deadlocked, 2-2, on how to replace Andrew Hogeland until May’s election.
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West Dews ran for 137 yards, Landon Corcoran made big plays down the stretch and the Wahconah defense made the biggest stop of the night to stymie a comeback drive in the closing minutes of a 22-18 win over rival Hoosac Valley on Friday night.
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A three-term member of the board, a teacher at Mount Greylock Regional School and a town native have stepped forward to fill an interim position on the Select Board. click for more