Living Building Challenge

Place

Restoring a Healthy Relationship Between Nature, Place and Community

• The project team spent time researching and understanding the land and its history. We’re humbled to learn about the connection that the Meskwaki have to this land and saddened and angered as we understood the effects of colonialism that their tribe continues to experience.
• The high school directly behind the building was the first high school integrated in the state of Iowa due to the work of Alexander Clark. 
• Being able to see the Mississippi River from our front door reminds us of the sizable impact that’s had on the industries of Muscatine, from pearl buttons to furniture and everything in between.
• And finally, we’re thrilled that we share our location with a former library because we believe strongly in the value of education. And we’re excited to continue that tradition for an even broader group of people moving forward.
• Taking the time to understand the history and impact of this place motivates us even more to honor those who came before us in every word deeded and interaction that comes from our new building.

Urban Agriculture Plots

Water

Creating Developments that Operate within the Water Balance of a Given Place and Climate

Rainwater capture capacity/other metrics (estimates):

• 100% water demands met on site.
• 13,000 SF collection area—includes majority of roof and solar canopies.
• (2) 6,250 gallon cisterns.
• Potable Water Reduction
  • Baseline Design—FTE (full time employees) projected to use 41,379 gallons/year.
  • Design—FTEs projected to use 21,294 gallons/year (the offset is attained through low-flow plumbing fixtures).
  • Equals a 49% reduction in potable water use.

Water Cisterns

Energy

Relying only on current solar income.

Targeted a 55% energy savings compared to a baseline building.

Energy saving strategies consisted of:

• Efficient VRF system used to heat and cool the spaces.
• Cutting edge energy recovery unit with double heat exchangers is 97% efficient at conditioning ventilation air.
• Daylighting (reduces light fixture load).
• 5” continuous insulation on exterior walls (R20 or greater).
• Minimum of R40 roof insulation.
• Predicted EUI (Energy Use Intensity) 26.2 kBTU per SF (before renewables).

Solar Panels

Materials

Endorsing products that are safe for all species through time.

• 948 tons of waste diverted (fun fact; equates to 79 school buses).
• 94.7% recycled waste.
• 485 tons of reused material.
• Building reuse primarily focused on reusing the existing building structure.
• 2,203 materials researched and vetted.
• 1,791 letters of advocacy sent to manufacturers.
• 144 Declare Products.

Exterior View

Health and Happiness

Creating environments that optimize physical and psychological health and well being.

• 95% of occupied spaces have direct views and daylight.
• Sunlight pours into the main atrium through three giant skylights.
• Paneling and tables made from sustainable wood contribute to the sense of being in a space with biophilic design.
•  In each office, we incorporated a thermostat, a height-adjustable desk, and an operable window, or alternatively, a plant wall with a skylight.
• In addition to offices, the Stanley Center’s open-concept living room and café space on the first floor provides our staff with flexible work options, as well as four different collaboration rooms for various uses.
• Wellness rooms and a gym ensure that spaces for mental and physical health are available to all.
• All cleaning products that we use have been purposefully selected from the EPA’s Safer Choice website, based on the Safer Choice Standard.
• The pesticides that are used to care for our plants were chosen from the Organic Materials Review Institute database for organic products.
• Air quality is equally important to employee health; therefore, Merv 13 filters are utilized in our HVAC equipment and are regularly replaced. Along with the Merv 13 filters, our plants also play a key role in improving our air quality.

Interior View

Beauty & Biophilia

Celebrating design that uplifts the human spirit.

• Oak veneer ties back to the oak savannah of our region.
• Pearl Button Blank backsplash ties back to the Pearl Button Industry, unique to
  Muscatine.
• Recycled glass countertops also symbolize shell fragments.
• Paver pattern at front entry symbolizes the dry creek bed that once flowed through
  the site, which is now buried as a sewer tunnel. Storm water overflow literally flows
  under this paver pattern, from the cisterns to the rain garden on the south side of
  the site.
• (4) Living benjamina ficus (weeping fig) trees, and over 300 various plants, including
  live lettuce walls.

Weeping Fig Trees

Equity

Supporting a just and equitable world.

• Every staff member has their own equal-sized office, and the building has many common areas for working, both indoors and outdoors. 
• In addition to outdoor workspaces, the courtyard will include an 850-square-foot community garden that will provide fresh produce to the neighboring foodbank, fostering community connections.
• Art on loan from The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts adorns our walls and reminds us of the multifaceted societal dimensions of our work.
• The Tree of Accountability is made from metal salvaged from our renovations of the former Musser Library with leaves made from decommissioned library book pages. This artwork represents our efforts to reconcile our dwelling in Native lands and bring awareness to the colonial history and ongoing injustices faced by Native people. Reflective messages on the leaves will form a conversation between Native communities and settlers. Members of the Meskwaki Nation began the conversation by responding to our question, “How can settlers be accountable to the people of the lands on which they live?” 

Selected Artwork