Recognizing Energy Efficient Design at Jester Park Nature Center
The Excellence in Energy Efficient Design awards program recognizes outstanding efforts in reducing energy use.
On September 27th, 2019, Polk County Conservation’s Jester Park Nature Center received a 2019 Excellence in Energy Efficient Design Award for achieving 73% kBTU savings when compared to the Commercial New Construction (CNC) program baseline. Award candidates are selected from projects whose designers participated in the Commercial New Construction program offered by Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy Company.
The Nature Center’s key features contributing to its energy efficiency include:
An upgraded thermal building envelope that includes:
SIP roof panels for the roof insulation.
Spray foam in the exterior stud wall framing.
Rigid foam exterior insulation & spray foam in the stud wall furring at the cast-in-place concrete foundation.
A building that benefits from “earth sheltering” with a lower level tucked into the hillside.
North-facing windows that minimize and manage thermal heat gain from glazing.
The installation of a geothermal heating and cooling system.
Occupancy sensors for LED lighting to reduce electric consumption.