Vol. 38, No. 18

3-5-2008
By: Julia Harris

New 4-H Center shows how cool green can be

The environmentally friendly building opens its doors and arms to central Ohio

As Andrea Bowlin walked the visitors through the newly opened Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, their every step revealed a feature she had to stop and enthuse about — from the multi-colored carpet squares made of recycled fibers to the waterless urinals in the men’s restrooms.

But even cooler than any whiz-bang gadgetry, she said, is the fact that the building is more than living up to its promise as the first “green” building at Ohio State.

Employees began moving into the center, which has been in the works since 2000, on Jan. 2. The official grand opening, complete with ribbon-cutting, will be April 4.

“People who used to work in the basement of the Ag Admin building said they felt a lot better physically almost immediately when they started working here,” said Bowlin, who holds a part-time position as director of special projects.

One new resident put it even more succinctly: “One time we went without water there for, like, two weeks due to a water main break or something,” said Sarah Lebheifer, a 4-H program assistant. “It’s very nice to be in a building that works.”

The building works both inside and out, according to Bowlin, who marvels at all the details that have been addressed.

On the exterior of the building there’s an easy-access bus lane to encourage people to use public transportation, along with prime parking places reserved for those who choose to carpool.

The back of the building has a relatively small paved parking lot, designed that way on purpose to minimize water run-off. Clay chips around the edges of pavement absorb the run-off that does occur.

Plans are in place to install plenty of bike racks to encourage people to ride instead of drive. Another incentive to the bikers, joggers or walkers in the building is the private shower and dressing room located off a first-floor hallway.

A hidden but essential component of the building’s green portfolio is its geothermal heating and cooling system. Drilled 300 feet into the ground below the parking lot are 72 holes that house a looped network of pipes — a “large paper clip that has a water solution running through it” — that taps into the Earth’s constant temperature of 55 degrees.

The inside of the building is where most of the green attributes can be found.

“There’s a lot of natural light, there are separate venting systems for janitorial chemicals used in the mechanicals and the glue used for the carpet is low-emissions so you don’t get those bad-fume headaches,” Bowlin said.

Recycled steel makes up the structural elements of the Great Hall. Many of the interior and exterior walls are paneled with a speckled yellow board that’s made of ground-up and compressed sunflower seed hulls. The burnished honey-colored desk units in the third- and fourth-floor office areas are made of bamboo wood, which is considered a renewable resource because it grows so quickly.

Containers for recyclables, paper only and general trash are plentiful and easily located.

“I’ve even got a personal recyclables container at my desk,” Bowlin said. “All workstations do.”

Also standard at each workstation is what she called “task lighting” that focuses on specific areas, minimizing the use of overhead lighting. This conservative use of lighting complements the center’s use of sensored lights, which go on automatically when a person enters a meeting room or a restroom and go off when there is no activity detected after a given period of time.

“It really helps with heating and cooling costs, but the only disadvantage is it takes a little bit of time to heat or cool a meeting when you first get into the room,” Bowlin said.

The facility has five conference rooms, a multi-purpose auditorium, a catering kitchen and a fifth-floor meeting space and outdoor deck with an expansive view of campus landmarks. Meeting space at the center can accommodate up to 400 guests, and events can be as varied as receptions, educational seminars or tailgate parties. Booking events at the center helps support 4-H activities.

“This building finally gives us a visible home on campus,” said Ryan Schiesing, one of the center’s assistant directors and an administrator for 4-H.

“It’s a place where we can have the space we need to conduct educational programs and training in a very professional setting.”

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