Countryside Village recently finished its largest structural and aesthetic renovation in its seventy-one-year history. The scope ranged from new sewer and gas lines several stories below ground to new marquee signs several stories high. Between those points, work ran a gamut that included everything from flower boxes to the fascia surrounding both buildings. Countryside’s beautiful and beloved east and west lawns were also enhanced, and the football-field-long stretch along Pacific Street was reconceived with colorful bushes, flowers and grasses.

In addition to being mindful of Village verdancy, the renovation was also “eco” green. The soffit lights outlining both buildings’ peripheries now blaze with LED bulbs, as do each and every store sign. The buildings’ roofs are covered with a white membrane that reflects up to 88% of the sun’s energy, thereby substantially reducing cooling costs and power grid demands. And the wood fascia lining both buildings has been replaced with an engineered wood produced from forests managed according to precepts from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and qualifies for points in leading green building programs such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating building system, Earth Craft, and BuiltGreen. Even the new 54 teak planters are crafted from wood harvested sustainably. Oh, and the teak trashcans? Hardly throwaways, they’re from sustainable sources too.