Indianapolis - A conservation group that's worked for a half-century to safeguard Indiana's rare plants and animals is going green in a big way with its new state headquarters.
When its doors open in April, the new home of The Nature Conservancy's Indiana chapter is expected to become Indianapolis' most energy-efficient office building thanks to a host of energy-saving designs and devices.
The 20,000 square foot building will have its own power source - three wind turbines - and a geothermal system that taps the Earth's natural heat storage capacity to both heat and cool.
Those systems, paired with advanced windows and a design that fills the space with sunlight, mean the building will use 35 percent less power than a typical office building.
State Director Mary McConnell said the new building on downtown Indianapolis' east side is a bricks-and-mortar expression of the nonprofit group's calling to protect the state's diverse plant and animal species.
"It's really a living embodiment of our mission - our conservation mission. We want to walk the talk in conservation and so this building does that for us," she said.
Since it's founding in 1959, the conservancy's Indiana chapter has used land acquisitions, conservation easements and other arrangements to protect nearly 70,000 acres of Indiana forests, wetlands, caves and prairie that harbor rare or endangered plants and animals.
The offices pay homage to those wilds with a marshy area next to its parking lot planted with native Indiana plants, trees and shrubs instead of a traditional lawn.
The parking lot itself is permeable, allowing rainwater to percolate into the soil. That design eliminates the need for a retention pond and means there's no storm runoff to add to the woes of the city's overburdened sewers.
The conservancy hopes the offices earn a platinum-level certification under U.S. Green Building Council guidelines known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.
LEED takes into account energy- and water-efficient systems, renewable materials and many other elements the conservancy offices feature, including green roofs covered with soil and plants to keep out the summer heat and winter cold and feed rainwater into a cistern.
Part of a dilapidated warehouse that once stood at the site was reused, with salvaged bricks being used to make a rustic wall and reclaimed wood being crafted into tables and benches.
The new offices are the first that the conservancy's staff of 30 can call their own. Since its founding, the Indiana chapter has leased space. A donation from the Efroymson family helped pay much of the new building's $8 million costs, including cost of the land.
At $180 a square foot, its cost is within the range of a typical office building, showing that advanced energy efficiency and sustainability don't come with a bigger price tag, said Adam McLane, the conservancy's building project director.
Indianapolis intends to showcase the conservancy's headquarters as an example of how building green is both affordable and can hold down energy costs, said Karen Haley, director of the city's Office of Sustainability.
"There's been a misconception that building green means it's going to be more expensive. That might have been the case in the past but costs have come down dramatically," she said.
Indianapolis currently has seven LEED-certified buildings, putting it well behind Chicago, the regional green building leader.
But as part of its effort to encourage more green buildings, Indianapolis is looking for ways to make 70 city-owned buildings more energy efficient to save taxpayer money.
Statewide, Indiana is moving to adopt revised energy-efficiency standards for commercial buildings that will replace outdated, decades-old regulations.
In December, the state published proposed energy conservation codes for new commercial buildings and those undergoing significant modifications. A public hearing on those rules is set for Jan. 28 in Indianapolis.
Tim Maloney, senior policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council, said buildings use some 70 percent of the nation's electricity and making homes and offices more efficient will go a long way to conserving energy.
"We see this as a very needed move on the part of the state of Indiana to upgrade our building codes. It's long overdue," Maloney said.
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