STATE BUILDING GETS ENERGY AWARD

The Iowa Utilities Board-Office of Consumer Advocate building is the recipient of the American Institute of Architects COTE Top Plus green building award. The IUB-OCA building was selected for exceeding its already exemplary performance expectations for energy efficient design, innovation, community integration, land use, material use and construction, lifespan capabilities, feedback mechanisms, and responses to light, air, energy, and water concerns and use. In 2013, the state building also received LEED Platinum status. The building is currently consuming 16.7 Kilo British Thermal Units (kbtu) per square foot annually, which far exceeds the energy-saving design model of 28 kbtu per square foot each year. Additionally, rooftop solar panels are providing 25 percent of the building's power needs or about double the 12.5 percent that was originally modeled. The building's net energy consumption is exceeding a savings of 81 percent in comparison to the national office building average of 90 kbtu per square foot per year.