Green Building award goes to Aldo Leopold Foundation

Saturday, October 20, 2007

From a story by Tim Damos in the Portage Daily Register:

Sauk County now is home to what is being called a wonder of green building design, thanks to the vision of the folks at the Aldo Leopold Foundation.

"This building does things that people are dreaming about," said Rick Fedrizzi, president of the U.S. Green Building Council. "There are people out there saying, 'Somehow, somewhere a building will be able to do that.' This building is doing it today."

The USGBC is a nonprofit organization that encourages sustainable construction and building design. It certifies green building projects and ranks them using a point system that measures energy efficiency and sustainability.

The new $4 million Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, northeast of Baraboo near the Wisconsin River, received 61 of a possible 69 points, the highest point total recorded by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, which is used by the USGBC.

It's the first "net zero energy" building in Wisconsin, and the first carbon-neutral building certified by LEED. During the first few months of operation, the building sold energy back to the local power utility and made $650, according to the Leopold Foundation.