Apple Valley liquor store takes 'go green' to heart

Such features as the Apple Valley building's geothermal heating helped it earn the state's first "Green Globes" rating.

By DEAN SPIROS, Star Tribune

Last update: July 21, 2009 - 5:03 PM

Print this story

Follow local news on Twitter

Some of the wines for sale at Apple Valley's newest municipal liquor store at 157th and Pilot Knob Road are from such faraway places as Australia. Some beers were crafted in Japan. But when it came to the brick and natural stone that went into building the impressive structure, only regional products would do.

Designer Wayne Hilbert of CNH Architects had a mandate from Apple Valley officials to "go green,'' with "going regional" part of the formula. Hilbert succeeded in his mission -- so much so that the project earned a "Green Globes" rating from the Green Building Initiative (GBI), the first such designation for a building in Minnesota.

"Green architecture is a balance of conserving energy and creating better indoor and outdoor environments,'' Hilbert said. "Apple Valley has been pursuing green buildings for a while now. They didn't specifically ask for the Green Globes part of it, but when it was brought up and discussed they were right on board.''

The GBI is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing green building into the mainstream. The Green Globes originated in Canada and moved to the United States in 2005.

Certification is based on a number of criteria, including energy usage, environmental impact, emissions and water consumption and conservation.

Another of Hilbert's projects, the newly expanded Hayes Senior Center in Apple Valley, became the second building in Minnesota to earn a Green Globes rating last week.

The liquor store, which opened last November, is heated and cooled by a geothermal system, which extracts heat stored in the earth. No natural gas or oil is used to heat the building.

Hilbert estimates the energy savings at $10,000 to $15,000 a year.

Scott Swanson, Liquor Operations Director for Apple Valley, said the energy bill for the 15,800-square-foot store is 90 percent of that of Apple Valley's 9,700-square-foot store.

"And if you look at it from the green side of it,'' Hilbert said, "it is also reducing your carbon footprint.''

The geothermal system is projected to pay for itself in six to 10 years.

All the lights in the retail area are daylight harvest lights, which automatically adjust to a lower wattage when the sun streams in through the many windows. The storage area features motion sensors to turn lights on and off.

Refrigerator doors and store signs are equipped with high-efficiency LED lighting.

The roof of the building is white, which reflects the heat. It also is designed to take a living green roof, which would reduce water runoff.

Rainwater is drained and collected on site in three ponds.

"When you put all those techniques together, you get a pretty efficient building,'' Hilbert said.

Dean Spiros • 952-882-9203