Municipal Utility Training and Office Center

Contact:
Patti Cale
Energy Services Coordinator
Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities
1735 NE 70th Avenue
Ankeny, IA 50021
Phone: (515) 289-1999
E-mail: pcale@iamu.org

Description

When the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities decided in 1997 to build a new training and office facility, the board and staff set a goal that the project should demonstrate sustainability in its use of resources and its commitment to environmental protection. The association, which represents 550 Iowa cities with municipally owned gas, electric, water, and telecommunications utilities, brought in a team of consultants and advisors that have assisted in meeting this goal.

The project involves a 25-acre site in Polk County, Iowa, including a 10-acre training field, a 20,000 square foot office and training building, and a 3,500 square foot maintenance building. The association's land adjoins a protected wetland, the Carney Marsh. The site development was planned to protect the Marsh and its water quality. IAMU participated during the grading and site preparation phase in a demonstration of soil erosion and sediment control practices. Measures such as temporary sediment basins, constructed wetlands, compost, silt fences, temporary seeding, and grassy swales were used to keep soil from leaving the site and impacting nearby water resources.

Eleven acres of native prairie plantings including big blue stem, stiff goldenrod, compass plant, and others provide a permanent way to prevent erosion, as well as minimizing the need for maintenance or chemical use. The association has installed a septic wetland for energy-efficient wastewater treatment.

Energy efficiency was a primary goal for the building design and construction. The building has the following features:

• maximization of daylighting by window size and placement
• photocells and occupancy sensors to control office lighting
• use of icynene insulation to create tight building shell
• geothermal heat pump system for heating and cooling
• use of recycled or recyclable materials and evaluation of embodied energy in all materials.

The Iowa Energy Center was instrumental in helping refine the building and mechanical/electrical system design to make it as energy efficient as possible. The Center's Energy Resource Station will install equipment to allow remote monitoring of the building's energy performance.

Site lighting was also designed for both energy efficiency and preventing light pollution. A minimal number of full cut-off fixtures using high pressure sodium and compact fluorescent lamps will provide adequate light and safety.

Following its completion, the building was recognized by the Governor of Iowa for showing a savings of six million kilowatt hours, or using only about half the energy of similar-sized buildings that meet Iowa's energy code.