Leopold Center

Baraboo, WI

Project Size: 2M

Client: The Boldt Company

Owner:  Aldo Leopold Foundation

Trades: HVAC

 

The HVAC at the Leopold Center was completed by 1901. This non-profit organization’s primary focus is wilderness conservation and the Leopold Center serves as the foundation’s headquarters and primary information center.

The center implements numerous green building techniques and technologies and according to the foundation, “The Leopold Center begins to demonstrate the many ecological, economic, and cultural harvests we may begin to reap when we commit to caring for land.” To meet the foundation’s goals, 1901 installed 720 feet of “earth tubing” and a geothermal heat pump system with radiant heating and cooling. The in-floor heating and cooling system, as well as the building’s roof-mounted solar array, contributes greatly to the building’s ability to operate with net-zero energy usage.

Through the use of energy efficient products and installation techniques, as well as renewable energy resources, the Leopold Center became the first carbon neutral building certified by LEED. In fact, at the time of completion, the Leopold Center was the highest scoring LEED project in the United States! This record has since been broken, but since the building that broke the record was also constructed in part by 1901, we think we can live with that.