I went on the Civil Rights Pilgrimage over spring break and one of our stops was the Heifer International Building, one of the most sustainable buildings I've ever seen in my life. I've been meaning to upload these pictures for a little while. Basically they built the building extremely narrow so that natural light could be use to light the majority of the building. Similarly, the LED lights used to light the areas of the building that do not receive enough natural light sense how much light is in the room and become correspondingly more or less dim to save energy. They also collect rainwater to use in toilets, etc. where they don't need actual city water to save water resources. They have their heating vents in the floor to allow for more efficient heating and cooling. The carpeting is recycled and made in squares so that if any needs to be replaced it can be replaced one square at a time to save money and resources. These are just a few of the things I remember from the building and I actually submitted a few for the new Davies Center, but I thought some of it was really cool and you guys might be interested.
