SHADES of Green

New center keeps the environment in mind

Urban Ecology Center

By Sean Ryan

Photo by Pat Goetzinger

One of the main reasons behind building the environmentally friendly Urban Ecology Center was to prove it could be done.

The Urban Ecology Center, a nonprofit Milwaukee group, wanted its new head-quarters to demonstrate green-building techniques. It's a showroom that lets people see what materials recycling, energy efficiency and storm-water controls mean to a real building.

"The Urban Ecology Center had a strong commitment to do these things, and I think they're getting a lot of people interested in the different systems," said Monique Charlier, division vice president for The Jansen Group, the project's Milwaukee-based general contractor. "There is a lot of interest being generated in the building with the general public and not just in the building community."

The center's green technology and construction methods aren't novel, but they also haven't been around long enough to have track records proving their costs and benefits. So, in addition to being a showroom, the 20,000-square-foot building, which includes classrooms, offices, exhibit space, meeting rooms and a connection to a bike trail, is also a laboratory.

	Project Name: Urban Ecology Center Location: Milwaukee Submitting Company: The Jansen Group Inc., Milwaukee General Contractor: The Jansen Group Inc. Architect: The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc., Cedarburg Engineers: Harwood Engineering Consultants Ltd., Milwaukee, structural engineer; Czarnecki Engineering Inc., Pewaukee, electrical engineer; Matrix Mechanical Solutions, Wauwatosa, plumbing engineer Owner: Urban Ecology Center, Milwaukee Project Cost: $3.3 million Start Date: May 2003 Completion Date: July 2004

The organization wants to collect numbers on how the heating and cooling systems, abundance of windows and tight building envelope could cut down on long-term energy costs. It will collect data on the photovoltaic panels on the roof, which collect energy from the sun.

The idea is to sway both contractors and building owners who aren't sold on the economic arguments that groups like the Urban Ecology Center are making about green-building techniques.

"I think it is demonstrating that these things are doable," Charlier said. "The more people are doing them, the more conventional these technologies and products will be."

One building feature that is new to Wisconsin is the gray-water system that collects rain water and then uses it instead of treated water to flush toilets, Charlier said. She said the gray-water system was so different that the Urban Ecology Center was still working with the state Department of Natural Resources to ensure it was in line with regulations.

"They had never approved one of these before, so we went through a series of revising the system to be sure it meets their expectations," Charlier said.

The gray water is part of an extensive storm-water management program that also includes rain gardens, a pond, pervious concrete, rain barrels and a rooftop garden that soaks up rain.

"All the water that drops on the site goes through a number of systems before it goes to the sewer, if at all," Charlier said.