Raise your glasses

Late last year, Yountville, Calif., a small town in Napa County, opened its new Town Center, a 10,000-square-foot facility that includes a renovated community hall, a branch library, multipurpose room, teen center, meeting spaces, and a sheriff’s substation, which is adjacent to the post office. Located on a 2.5-acre site on Yountville’s main street, the Town Center opens onto a new town square framed by the community hall and post office, and is connected to surrounding neighborhoods by walkways and bike paths.

Designed by Emeryville, Calif.-based Siegel & Strain Architects, the Town Center is the result of a master planning process that began in 1998 and called for a sustainably designed area where residents could meet, learn, play and celebrate. The facility includes many “green” features, such as ground-source heat pumps for heating and cooling, and roof-mounted photovoltaic arrays to capture solar energy for use in the building. Water-conserving plumbing fixtures, harvested rainwater, and drip irrigation reduce water use.

The Yountville Town Center received the 2010 Award of Honor from Savings By Design, a California program sponsored by utilities that encourages high-performance, non-residential building design and construction. Cosponsored by the American Institute of Architects, California Council, the annual awards program recognizes designs that support resource efficiency, environmental responsibility, human productivity and quality of life.