When a new branch of the First Bank & Trust opens in Skokie early next year, it will be among just a few bank branches in the Midwest with a geothermal heating and cooling system and a slew of other environmentally friendly components, officials said.
During a ground breaking ceremony for the branch at 4007 Dempster Avenue this week, Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen said he hopes construction of the new “green” bank branch will set a good example for other businesses – and help stimulate economic development along the West Dempster Street corridor.
“This is something we’re trying to encourage,” Van Dusen said. “We’ve encouraged green building through our new police station. We did that on purpose, to set an example for businesses. We’re doing what we can do encourage green building.”
The 3,600 square-foot bank was designed by the Evanston architectural firm of Behles and Behles. Once open, it could be among the first financial institutions in the Midwest designed to achieve LEED gold-certification, said Joseph J. Behles.
The acronym stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” an internationally recognized certification system.
Behles said the bank will have a geothermal heating and cooling system, which uses no fossil fuels. Other features include a “living” roof covered in plants, and energy-efficient lighting.
Most of the exterior and interior construction components will be made of recycled materials. Wood will come from renewable forests. The design can incorporate solar panels in the future, Behles said.
“The bank, if nothing, is financially savvy,” he said. “They asked us to incorporate as many green businesses practices into the building as make economic sense.
“They understand that they’ll pay more initially for a geothermic heating system, but it’s easy to demonstrate from year one that there’s substantial savings over time to more than compensate for that,” he said.
Van Dusen said that when First Bank & Trust purchased the lot, it made a long term commitment to the community by cleaning up contaminated soil left by a gas station that had been on that site for 30 years. It also successfully orchestrated the efforts of five utility companies to relocate a block of utility poles, to widen the alley for Skokie businesses and residents.
“‘Green’ is one of the things that particularly recommends First Bank and Trust to us,” said Van Dusen. “The bank president, Jay Lytle, is a former mayor of Evanston. He has always been environmentally conscious.”
