We visited the Aldo Leopold Center in May of 2013 because of our involvement in the wild ones and watching the documentary Green Fire. We were primarily interested in the construction of the highest scoring LEED building in the country.
Here's a short excerpt from the Aldo Leopold Foundation:
Considered by many as the father of wildlife management and of the United States’ wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast.
In 1935, he and his family initiated their own ecological restoration experiment on a worn-out farm along the Wisconsin River outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Planting thousands of pine trees, restoring prairies, and documenting the ensuing changes in the flora and fauna further informed and inspired Leopold.
Leopold defined conservation as a way of life in which land does well for its inhabitants, citizens do well by their land, and both end up better by reason of partnership. Aldo Leopold recognized that no matter how sophisticated we become, people will always depend on the land—“the land” being shorthand for the community that not only includes and values people but also plants, animals, soils, and waters, from the highest strata of the atmosphere to the depths of the ocean. We often take natural resources and ecosystems for granted, but, ultimately, the planet’s natural communities and natural functions are what sustain our economy and enrich our lives. “That land is a community,” Leopold wrote, “is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.”
We are working toward living lighter on the land and putting it back to it's natural state - even if we disrupt it with building a home.
Here's some of the things we learned from the center:
Here's a short excerpt from the Aldo Leopold Foundation:
Considered by many as the father of wildlife management and of the United States’ wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast.
In 1935, he and his family initiated their own ecological restoration experiment on a worn-out farm along the Wisconsin River outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Planting thousands of pine trees, restoring prairies, and documenting the ensuing changes in the flora and fauna further informed and inspired Leopold.
Leopold defined conservation as a way of life in which land does well for its inhabitants, citizens do well by their land, and both end up better by reason of partnership. Aldo Leopold recognized that no matter how sophisticated we become, people will always depend on the land—“the land” being shorthand for the community that not only includes and values people but also plants, animals, soils, and waters, from the highest strata of the atmosphere to the depths of the ocean. We often take natural resources and ecosystems for granted, but, ultimately, the planet’s natural communities and natural functions are what sustain our economy and enrich our lives. “That land is a community,” Leopold wrote, “is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.”
We are working toward living lighter on the land and putting it back to it's natural state - even if we disrupt it with building a home.
Here's some of the things we learned from the center:
- The used a product called "sky paneling" which is a green particle board
- SIPs were used on the north wall with heat holding material (block/stone) on the south wall
- Cellulose insulation was the primary insulator
- The buildings were designed to turn off the heat to extra space
- North facing transom windows used for natural light
- Earthen plaster covered the walls (see photo)
- Most of the wood in the building was harvested on site
- Geothermal air was used for heating/cooling - but introduced mold and radon concerns that had to be remediated
- Lighting and electrical were run through exposed wood beams rather than through the insulated ceiling (see photo)
- Rainwater was managed from the roofs to flow into the garden (photo below)
