BUILDING ON GREEN FOUNDATIONS

Corporate Report Wisconsin, May 2008 by Welch, Jamie

LEED certification is providing state buildings with many firsts while proving they 'walk the environmental walk.' By Jamie Welch

In today's world, for companies to be considered environmentally friendly, they have to walk the walk before talking the talk. By constructing ecologically minded buildings, Wisconsin organizations are taking a giant green step forward and investing in their long-term sustainable futures.

To officially qualify as green, a building registers with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a nonprofit advocacy group issuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings at various levels and costs, which start with the $10,000 application fee.

The buildings highlighted in this article range from those earning the coveted Platinum and Gold status, to those still waiting for their LEED designations. Pleasing to the eye and ergonomic for those working within, these structures range from a senior high school to a car dealership; a construction company to talent recruiting business; a potato chip factory to a nature center, yet common traits prevail. They harness solar energy and are built with recycled, local materials to reduce their carbon footprint, which, in at least one case, is zero.

Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, Baraboo

Considered to be the father of wildlife management, Aldo Leopold (1887 - 1948) was a ecologist, forester, and author who helped develop modern environmental ethics. Doubtless, this legendary Wisconsin environmentalist would be proud to be the namesake of the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, a net-zero-energy, carbon-neutral structure near Baraboo that might be the greenest building ever.

Born on the Mississippi in Burlington, Iowa, Leopold served for 19 years in the United States Forest Service. In 1924 he joined the Forest Products Lab in Madison, Wisconsin and started a career as a wildlife surveyor and professor of game management at UW-Madison. He lived in a modest two-story home close to the campus with his wife and children and taught at the university until his death in 1948 from a heart attack while fighting a brush fire.

In 1982, Leopold's children established the Aldo Leopold Foundation in response to the growing interest in their father's legacy. For more than 20 years, the foundation managed the original Leopold farm and "Shack," a re-built chicken coop along the Wisconsin River the family used for weekend and holiday retreats.

Last year the Shack got a befitting upgrade - the beautiful 12,000-sq.-ft. Aldo Leopold Legacy Center that recently received the highly sought after LEED Platinum Certification, as well as an award from the USGBC as the first net-zero-energy building in Wisconsin and the first carbon-neutral building certified by LEED. The center's annual energy demand is matched by the output of clean, renewable energy systems on site. In fact, the structures produce approximately 115% of their annual building energy needs.

"Ultimately, what I have seen here in design, local commitment to the building and its ability to teach people the principals of sustainable design, this does it all," said USGBC President Rick Fedrizzi.

Designed by the Kubala Washatko Architects and constructed by The Boldt Co., the center is environmentally friendly, literally from the ground up. In 2006, wells were drilled deep into the ground and a closed loop of piping went in below the frost line, using the earth's stable temperature to pre-heat or pre-cool water relative to the air temperature.

Locally harvested red maple, cherry, and oak logs were used to create the columns, beams and tongue-and-groove paneling. The buildings are oriented on the site to take advantage of the sun's position during Wisconsin's changing seasons - a thermal flux zone along the southern exposure provides passive solar heating in winter and shelters the building core from the summer sun. Operable windows take advantage of fresh breezes in summer and ward off winter winds with inside shutters.

The energy system includes a roof-mounted 39.4 kW photovoltaic solar array that annually produces 61,000 kWh, or 110% of the center's energy needs, plus the amount used annually by six Wisconsin households. A geothermal heat exchanger is used in the water-based heating system.

Bottom line: The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center might be the greenest building in the state, an achievement the building's name-sake would be proud of.

Tri-North Builders' Corporate Headquarters, Madison

Founded in 1981 in Madison as a general contracting firm, Tri-North Builders has grown immensely with its focus on commercial construction. A true green builder with operations in 47 states, Tri-North's new LEED Gold Certified headquarters in Madison is a showpiece. As pleasing to the eye as it is to Mother Nature, the 55,000-sq.-ft. building saves about 227,496 kilowatts of energy per year, preventing 316,675 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.

Many of the ideas are no-nonsense. For example, the pervious concrete in Tri-North's parking lot allows water to be stored in a recharge bed below the surface. Stunning floor-to-ceiling windows light 70% of the interior spaces while outdoor sensors raise and lower shades to assist the radiant flooring system. The chemical-free cooling system uses kinetic energy to keep the offices at a comfortable temperature all year.