FAIRHOPE, Ala. - When completed next summer, the Fairhope Satellite Courthouse project will more than double the size of the existing building and seek EPA-sponsored Energy Star recognition based on energy efficiency design standards used during its construction.

“This is one of the things I was very keenly interested in,” County Commissioner David Ed Bishop said Thursday. “We are an environmental community, and I insisted that we require energy efficient standards in design of the new building, and the County Commission did make those requirements.”

The Energy Star recognition will come a year after the building has been finished based on data of that year’s energy use, said Jeff Hudson, the project architect for the Daphne-based Hatch Mott MacDonald architectural and engineering firm.

“It was part of the design requirements in bidding for the project,” said Hudson, adding that the county sought recommendations for which system of energy efficient standards to use.

His firm recommended the Energy Star program, Hudson said.

If the building receives Energy Star recognition, it will be one of less than 50 such buildings in the state, according to the rating website. Although a number of public schools have the rating, Calhoun County Courthouse is the only courthouse building in the state meeting those standards, according to the website.

The contract for the project was awarded in May this year to Stuart Contracting Co., Inc. on its bid of $4.6 million. Constuction began June 8 with a year to complete, not counting rain days and other delays, according to county staff.

“This project was designed for future growth with all departments and the public in mind,” said Nancy Strube, county project coordinator. “The architect and I met with elected officials and department heads many months prior to approving this project to discuss their current space and needs and to plan for those future space and needs.”

The expansion will add 22,735 square feet to the existing building for a total size of 44,499 square feet. The main addition will be a two-story building to the west of the one-story existing building. The addition will house a number of new offices, according to floor plans.

“The new building will help set us apart in terms of energy efficiency and make us the wave of the future,” Bishop said. “The new satellite courthouse will provide a model for other communities to follow.”