Officials channel energy into ideas to green City Hall
Any City Hall employee can tell you that the hulking Brutalist Modern building where they work is freezing in some places, sweltering in others, and drafty almost everywhere. But something else is becoming increasingly clear: It consumes vast amounts of energy.
With fuel and power bills that top $2 million every year, City Hall consumes enough energy to power 2,200 average homes, burning up fuel at 2 1/2 times the rate of most other office buildings, by one architect's estimate.
Now, a push to green up the old building is on. A city councilor who wants to give City Hall an extreme environmental makeover plans to file an order today calling for a hearing to explore ways to save energy, including installing solar panels on the roof.
''We want to turn a big, ugly, gray monster into Boston's second Green Monster," said Councilor John Tobin.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who is trying to cultivate an image as a green mayor, has put administration officials to work investigating motion-detector lights and a new heating and cooling system.
''City Hall was designed in the 1960s, when energy conservation was not a major factor because costs were so low," said James Hunt, the mayor's chief of environment and energy services. ''There have been many advances in energy efficiency, and we've identified steps we can take to improve its energy use."
Though City Hall will always use more energy than a regular office building because of its high volume of visitors and workers, estimates from the mayor's office say the city could reduce the 513,000-square-foot building's energy bills by 20 percent. That would require lighting, heating, and cooling system upgrades, as well as someone to manage the building's daily energy use for maximum efficiency.
Hunt said the administration is also exploring the possibility of solar panels on the roof, but said they are expensive and might not work because neighboring buildings cast shadows over City Hall.
With energy costs spiraling, cities across the country are trying to transform creaky, old municipal buildings into models of green technology.
Last year Cambridge gutted its 33,200-square-foot City Hall Annex and installed solar panels on the roof, a ground-source heat pump, and lights that shut off automatically.
Newton has installed solar panels on a number of its buildings, including Newton South High School.
Chicago began testing green roof technology atop its city hall a few years ago, and in San Diego, a municipal building that houses 180 trash trucks and 80 city workers runs entirely on solar power.
Menino is especially interested in making City Hall more environmentally friendly because he wants to begin requiring new public and private construction to use green technology, such as recycled building materials and energy-efficient windows and lighting.
Big ideas for a more energy-efficient City Hall, where about 1,300 employees work, have been floated before. In 1997, Milton architect Henry MacLean proposed that the city seal off the roof with a giant translucent dome, saying it would cut energy costs by 50 percent. The dome would be coated with a thin film that converts sunshine to electricity, and it would be surrounded by a roof garden that would cool the building.
''This should be a place that really highlights green architecture and the way we need to be building in the 21st century," MacLean said. ''You don't do that by making a few windows tighter."
An even bolder idea: planting a windmill on City Hall Plaza.
''You do have that big expanse of open space," said Marc Breslow, director of Massachusetts Climate Action Network. ''It would produce energy, and I think they are beautiful to look at."
He acknowledged, though, that there might not be enough wind there to make it work..
Tobin said his hearing will determine whether there is a way to use renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, to help power City Hall; whether the city could add green space to City Hall Plaza so it looks more like Post Office Square; and whether windows can be replaced ''so they actually open," which he said would save on air-conditioning bills and make the air healthier to breathe.
If those things cannot be done, he said, the city should consider tearing the building down and building a more energy-efficient one in its place.
''I'm not talking that tonight we start building a new City Hall, but it should definitely be talked about for five, 10, 15 years out," he said.
''This is first time in the city's history we've filed a budget that's over $2 billion. A lot of costs are salaries and benefits, but we have to look for ways to save money, too, and energy consumption, it seems to me, is a no-brainer."
Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com. 