In Niagara Falls, A LEED-Certified Courthouse

A recent Green Building News article details the certification process of the recently completed Niagara Falls, NY municipal courthouse and police headquarters complex.

The 135,000 square foot, $47 million complex received its certification in December, having scored 23 out of a possible 59 points toward certification. Designed by global megafirm HOK, the project team debunked local perceptions that certification was a costly and time-consuming process.

“The previous administration instructed us not to pursue LEED certification — nobody in the Buffalo area was doing it and there was a perception that it cost a lot of money,” Salvatore LaGambina, vice president of Ciminelli Development Company (the company that managed the complex’s construction), said in the article. “Remember, this was a $47 million project that we got certified for about $30,000, which in the scope of things is nothing.”

“We had the dynamics of changing administrations — with a new mayor and new council members — and had to live with some of the decisions of the previous administration. But we went back to the new administration and showed them how to put the LEED submission together and achieve certification at no cost to the city through a New York state grant,” LaGambina said.

The new complex replaced the city’s former justice building, a 1960s complex with a problematic layout as well as a host of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing problems. Altogether the building houses 56 beds and four courtrooms, as well as other amenities including an indoor firing range.  Reusing an urban site with public transportation links proved helpful in the project’s team quest for LEED certification as well, according to the article.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com