116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
How is Indian Creek going green? Let us count the ways
Indian Creek Nature Center's soon-to-be-completed headquarters, dubbed the 'Amazing Space,' has dozens of sustainable features built in.
It's all part of an effort to create the only building in Iowa — and the only nature center in the world — certified under the International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge.
Read the full story: New Indian Creek Nature Center 'Amazing Space' is a green machine
Permeable pavers, separated by pebbles, are designed to capture rainwater and snow melt, creating mini water-holding tanks instead of the water running off into the creek or evaporating. The water transfers through layers of rock and landscaping fabric, filtering out pollutants.
Special windows are being installed in a room overlooking a rain garden that often attracts birds. The windows have Ornilux Bird Protection Glass that, from the outside, looks like spiderwebs. The treatment is less visible to the human eye; this photograph has been toned to enhance it. The spiderweb glass should prevent birds from flying into the windows.
The interior of the nature center features wood salvaged from a barn in Marion and limestone from Weber Stone Co. in Anamosa. 'By sourcing our stone locally, we reduced carbon emissions from transporting the materials to the site,' said Lindsey Flannery, business development coordinator at Indian Creek.
With a goal of eliminating runoff, the nature center's gutter and downspout system is to connect to a water collection basin. Also in this photo, one can see the HardiePlank siding used on the exterior of the building. The siding is made from cement, giving it a longer life expectancy than wood or vinyl siding.
Jean Wiedenheft, land stewardship director at the nature center, holds EcoBatt insulation made from sand and recycled glass. The manufacturing process did not involve using formaldehyde or other chemicals that go into traditional insulation. The non-toxic insulation is used throughout the building.
Millwrights from Brecke Mechanical Contractors install solar panels. The nature center is to be equipped with hundreds of such panels — on the ground and on the roof — capable of producing 105 kilowatts of energy — enough to power the entire building and, perhaps, produce excess power as well, which would make the nature center a net positive facility.
The nature center is designed to let in a maximum amount of natural light and light sensors are to help regulate any additional lighting needs. Noise-controlling Tectum ceiling panels, shown here in the auditorium, are made using Wisconsin aspen wood fibers.
Small doors at the nature center are designed to allow bees to enter enclosed educational hives.
Read the full story: New Indian Creek Nature Center 'Amazing Space' is a green machine
Grasses sourced at the nature center's prairie have been pressed and displayed in the bird room at Indian Creek Nature Center's new Amazing Space on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The building is the first in Iowa to pursue the Living Building challenge. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Permeable pavers have been used on the patio and parking spaces to prevent runoff. Photographed at Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids on Friday, July 15, 2016. (Liz Martin/The Gazette) Permeable pavers on the patio in front of the building capture rainwater or snow melt when the water runs between the cracks filled with pebbles, creating mini water holding tanks instead of the water running off into the creek or evaporating. The water transfers through layers of rock and landscaping fabric, filtering out pollutants.
Ornilux Bird Protection Glass, specialty glass looks like cobwebs from the exterior, prevents bird strikes on the large windows of the bird room at Indian Creek Nature Center's new Amazing Space on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The treatment is less visible to the human eye; this photograph has been toned to enhance the treatment. The building is the first in Iowa to pursue the Living Building challenge. (Liz Martin/The Gazette) The room on the back of the building is fully-encased in glass Ornilux windows imported from Germany. Since the room looks out onto the rain garden that attracts birds, the Ornilux windows are glazed too look like spiderwebs to birds, prompting them to stay away so they don't fly into them, as they would with real spider webs.
Wood salvaged from a barn in Marion covers the walls in the auditorium, next to limestone from Stone City at Indian Creek Nature Center's new Amazing Space on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The building is the first in Iowa to pursue the Living Building challenge. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Gutters will connect to a water collection basin, with the goal of eliminating runoff at Indian Creek Nature Center's new Amazing Space, shown on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The building is the first in Iowa to pursue the Living Building challenge. (Liz Martin/The Gazette) Above the limestone, the HardiePlank siding used on the exterior is made from cement, more durable than wood or vinyl that eventually needs to be replaced, creating waste. The limestone comes from Weber Stone Company in Anamosa. 'By sourcing our stone locally, we reduced carbon emissions from transporting the materials to the site,' Flannery said.
Jean Wiedenheft, Indian Creek Nature Center land stewardship director, holds EcoBatt insulation made from sand and recycled glass at Indian Creek Nature Center's new Amazing Space on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The non-toxic insulation is used in the building's wall cavities. The building is the first in Iowa to pursue the Living Building challenge. (Liz Martin/The Gazette) This brown and tan insulation on the ceiling was made by EcoBatt combined sand and recycled glass by breaking it down into polymers without using formaldehyde or other chemicals that go into traditional insulation.
Brecke Mechanical Contractors millwrights install solar panels at Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids on Friday, July 15, 2016. Kyle Lane (far left) and Justin Osmundson (far right) check the spacing between panels while Gabe Davidson (back left) and Jerry De Baker set the next panel into place. The center's solar energy system will have 420 panels totaling a 105 kilowatt capacity, providing 100 percent of the energy needed on-site. (Liz Martin/The Gazette) Over 300 solar panels provide 100 percent of the building's energy, making it a net zero building, not using more energy than it produces. The 105 kilowatt system consists of ground-mounted panels and two strips of panels on the roof of the building. The system was funded by Alliant Energy, who plans to use the solar power system to learn more about the efficiency of solar energy. Wiedenheft said she believes the solar panels will provide even more energy than the facility uses, making it a net positive building. The solar power system connects to the power grid, so when the panels generate more energy than the users of the space consume, the excess energy travels onto the grid. Data gathered through system monitors will be displayed on a computer in the Amazing Space where visitors can learn about sustainability, and Indian Creek can track energy production and use.
Light streams in from light centers in the auditorium at Indian Creek Nature Center's new Amazing Space, which can be supplemented with LED lights when needed, on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The building is the first in Iowa to pursue the Living Building challenge. (Liz Martin/The Gazette) All interior and exterior lighting is LED and operates at peak efficiency by using the light sensors. Watt Stopper occupancy sensors and daylighting sensors detect the occupancy and light level in each room. Occupancy sensors only switch the lights on if the daylighting sensors identify that not enough daylight is in the space, Flannery said. Tectum ceiling panels are a noise control product made from Wisconsin Aspen wood fibers that were used in the auditorium.
Small doors will allow bees to enter enclosed educational hives at Indian Creek Nature Center's new Amazing Space on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The building is the first in Iowa to pursue the Living Building challenge. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
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