Less energy means more money

The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo is thought to be the state’s only zero net-energy building. Photo courtesy of The Kubala Washatko Architects/ Mark Heffron

As the climate-change discussion jumps from science labs to American pop culture, there are some who say the building industry is poised to lead the fight against global warming.

According to Architecture 2030, a nonprofit organization challenging builders to create buildings that use less energy and avoid fossil fuel use, buildings consume 48 percent of the nation’s energy, most of which comes from greenhouse gas-emitting fuels.

“We have a long way to go before we can’t ring any more efficiency out of our buildings,” said Wayne Reckard, director of business development for The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc., the Cedarburg-based firm that designed what is thought to be the only zero net-energy building in Wisconsin: the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo.

The 12,000-square-foot center’s buildings generate more energy than they draw from the power grid, and the grounds were improved to take more carbon out of the air than the buildings cause to be emitted, Reckard said.

Using photovoltaics, solar hot-water heating and on-site power generation, the buildings now generate 15 percent more energy yearly than they use. It won’t be long before the center saves enough in energy costs to pay itself back for the added construction costs, Reckard said.

The long-term cost savings of going green shouldn’t be ignored, said Josh Arnold, owner of 360GREEN Inc., a Madison-based, sustainable-building consulting firm. Arnold said the Midwest is lagging behind in its commitment to environmentally friendly building, but it’s making strides to catch up.

And there’s good financial reason to sprint ahead, he said.

“[Wisconsin] imports our fossil fuels,” he said. “For every $1 spent, 66 cents goes out of state. If we invest in energy efficiency, the state receives $6.46 for every $1 invested.”

Arnold’s is one of only two Wisconsin organizations to have signed the Architecture 2030 challenge, which sets a goal for buildings to become carbon neutral by 2030. While he said the Wisconsin building community is gaining interest in green building, the shift is slow.

“It’s sad,” he said, “when you think about the legacy for environmental stewardship that we have here.”

InSinkErator captures national attention

Larry Kimball, InSinkErator’s vice president of operations, shows Richard Trethewey of “This Old House” the new Evolution Excel garbage disposal at the InSinkErator plant in Racine. Photo courtesy of InSinkErator Corp.

With guest appearances on “How It’s Made,” “Modern Marvels” and “Wrapped” on its dossier, Racine-based InSinkErator Corp. is a cable television pro.

Even so, there’s something exciting about having your company and its products featured on a television show with as much history as PBS’ “This Old House,” said David MacNair, InSinkErator’s vice president of marketing.

It’s even better if your product is used in the home-repair show’s latest project, an 1897 house in Newton, Mass.

This season’s project house features an Evolution Cover Control garbage disposal, which only works when the cover is on, but it was the super-quiet Evolution Excel that brought TOH’s Richard Trethewey to Wisconsin.

Trethewey, who is the show’s plumbing and heating expert, followed the production of an Excel disposal from start to finish, learned how it works and watched it grind up frozen, steer rib bones, said Carol Baricovich, manager of brand marketing at InSink-Erator.

The seven-minute segment aired Dec. 27.

— Jennifer Pfaff