Art News

Erie Art Museum to Open New "Green" Facility in October 2010

ERIE, PA.- The Erie Art Museum will open the doors of its newly expanded $10 million facility, becoming the first building in the City of Erie to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. The building, designed by EDGE Studio of Pittsburgh, led by principal Anne Chen, will open to the public for free on its inaugural weekend October 23 & 24, 2010. Achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is a particular challenge for art museums given the standards for art preservation. The new Museum facility boasts many environmentally friendly features such as energy-efficient heating, cooling, and lighting systems, a comprehensive waste stream control system, and a storm water management system that will return most of the rain falling on the complex to the water table, instead of the sewer system. The building will get a vegetated green roof in the spring of 2011. The Eri