The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is planning the buildings of the future. The goal is a massive project to construct an entire campus of "green" buildings.
It begins with the $2.1 million Environmental Planning Center that will have all the latest in environmentally friendly features.
The 15,000-square-foot building is expected to meet the criteria for the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold level certification.
Rooftop solar panels will provide electricity and hot water. The building will have a warm air venting system that will provide natural fresh air ventilation. A cistern will collect and store rain water.
A vegetated sunscreen on the south side of the building will block bright sunshine to reduce energy costs and a central light well will flood the public areas with sunlight maximizing natural light to the building. High efficiency LED lighting will be used throughout the building.
Curtis Cafiso, Conservancy business manager, hopes the Environmental Planning Center is just the beginning of The Conservancy's plan to "go green."
He hopes to apply these features to all the new buildings and building renovations planned at The Conservancy including the new Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, maintenance building, theater and Discovery Center.
"The cool stuff is we are going to be targeting the roof with a full botanic array that will be generating electricity from the sun to operate the whole building," Cafiso said about plans for the Environmental Planning Center.
"The green screen across the entrance; that's a natural way to keep the building cool and that will allow the building to blend into the background," he continued. "We have a very natural philosophy to the campus and we didn't want the new construction to stand out."
Cafiso admits all this will cost more than a traditional building, but not a tremendous amount more.
"If somebody puts thoughtful design in to the building there doesn't have to be a substantial markup," he said. "The building itself has passive solar features built into it from the start; there are no additional costs to that."
Cafiso said there are additional costs for using recycled material and LED lighting.
"Some of the things are costly," he said. "But we are doing it to show the public what the future of this technology can be. We are the sunshine state but we are not the leader in producing solar electricity. Part of our mission is educating the public in being environmentally conscious. We're investing in practicing what we preach here. We have a goal of LEED certifying every building that we touch."
The Conservancy plans to break ground on the Environmental Learning Center in July and open the center in the spring of 2010. The same timetable applies for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
Larry Warner is the architect for the project. He said he's been doing green buildings for 30 years, but has never done an entire complex like The Conservancy.
"I believe it's the first time all the buildings on one campus are being done," Warner said. "We're breaking some new ground. We are doing some very revolutionary things."
Warner said green building is becoming more accepted and even popular.
"Green building used to be something you had to sneak in when the owner was not looking," he said. "Now the owners are asking for it. It's really great that it's coming to the forefront now. It's no longer in the closest."