U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge office moves into new Swanton headquarters
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Published: August 8, 2005
SWANTON (AP) — The offices of the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge have been moved into a new headquarters building that incorporates cutting-edge energy technology.
"Our goal here is to be as energy independent as we can be," said refuge manager Mark Sweeny. "We want to demonstrate this to the public, and while we realize every home can't be built like this, we can show people there are ways around our dependency on fossil fuels."
The new headquarters building of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is cooled by a geothermal system that circulates cold water pumped up from 387 feet below the surface. Atop the roof sit solar photo cells, capable of generating up to five kilowatts.
A 10-kilowatt wind turbine needs final approval from the Public Service Board before it goes up. The Service had to conduct an environmental study on the wind turbine to assure that endangered species would not be harmed by the turbine, said Sweeny.
"On a sunny, windy day, we should be producing more electricity than we can use," Sweeny said.
The roof line, ceiling and window placement were designed to obscure the high summer sunshine rays but allow for the lower-angled winter rays to help warm the building. In addition, heat-reflecting rocks have been strategically placed to help radiate heat from the sun or the wood stove in the large main foyer.
Sweeny said the building itself cost about $2 million, and the entire new headquarters campus, which will feature nature trails and wading ponds, cost $3.2 million. The federal money was secured by Vermont's congressional delegation.
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