Baraboo, Wisconsin - Built in honor of one of the world’s most famed conservationists, the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, located on Leopold’s farm near Baraboo, Wisconsin, has earned 61 out of a possible 69 LEED points, the most earned by any LEED-certified building to date and enough to qualify for a Platinum rating.
The net-zero-energy building produces as much energy as it consumes with a grid-tied photovoltaic system and a ground-source heat pump serving a radiant-floor heating system; wood stoves add additional heat.Fresh air is pumped into the building through a series of underground pipes, moderating extreme outdoor temperatures before entering conditioned space, thereby lessening the energy needed for heating and cooling. The Center is also the first LEED building to earn an innovation credit for being carbon neutral; emissions from the Aldo Leopold Foundation’s activities and the generation of electricity for those activities are offset by the carbon sequestration of the foundation’s 35 acres of forest certified to Forest Stewardship Council standards.
Much of the lumber used in the center—90,000 board feet (200 m3), including many trees planted by Leopold—also came from this forest. More information is available at www.aldoleopold.org/legacycenter/.
The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center has received Platinum LEED ® Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Following a rigorous assessment, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program awarded the Legacy Center 61 points of 69 possible points, more than any other building yet rated in the world.
The Legacy Center helps us to envision how we can use energy more efficiently and develop positive relationships to other people and the planet. Through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and an ongoing commitment to land stewardship, the Legacy Center became the first carbon neutral building certified by LEED—meaning annual operations account for no net gain in carbon dioxide emissions.
The Legacy Center is a net zero energy building, meeting all of its energy needs on site. Despite the contrasts of Wisconsin’s four-season climate, the Legacy Center uses 70 percent less energy than a building built just to code, and the center’s roof-mounted solar array is projected to meet 110 percent of the building’s energy needs on an annual basis.
Key Features of the Legacy Center:
Carbon-neutral
Energy-efficient design
Locally-harvested wood products
Continuing the work of Aldo Leopold
Carbon-neutral
Energy-efficient design
Locally-harvested wood products
Continuing the work of Aldo Leopold
0 comments:
Post a Comment