Shop Talk: Buying Locally in N.Y., Chilling Water and Earning Gold in Ill.

Shopping locally: Officials in Suffolk County, N.Y., have apparently negotiated an end to a dispute that threatened $58-million in construction projects at Suffolk County Community College, according to Newsday. At the heart of the dispute was a local law requiring county agencies to give preference to local contractors—a law the college was accused of violating when it selected an architect for a new library. The college’s board has agreed to comply with the requirement, the newspaper says.

Cold water: Construction is underway on two new chiller plants at Illinois State University. According to the Daily Vidette, the university’s student newspaper, the project is intended to make the chilled-water supply on the campus more reliable, and eliminate smaller chillers in individual buildings.

LEED update: A $12-million renovation of Wieboldt Hall on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University has been awarded gold-level certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. SmithGroup served as architects for the renovation of the 1926 building.