We are here to let you in on a little secret, we are constructing a self-sufficient visitor's center, located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Our goal for this project is to be as green as we can be. We are planning on using as many self-sufficient materials as possible. From top to bottom, from inside to outside, we are here to think Green. Knowing how much damage our planet has faced over the past century, we are now trying to use the best technology and go green.
There have been several steps involved in making this process green and allowing our center to flourish in a desirable manner. We can accomplish anything that we set our minds to, and accomplish our goals.
We have discussed combining and using so many green resources while designing our visitors center that we could not use them all. We had to keep in mind the price of the center, how our visitors would feel while they visit but most importantly how much of a difference we could make by going green.
The resources discussed included:
- Roofing
- Doors
- Windows
- Office Space
- Cast in place walls
- Insulation
- Room sizes
- Flooring
- Renewable materials
- Energy
- Rain water systems
- Renewable energy
- Gray water removal
- Geothermal heating/energy
- Solar energy
- Wind energy
- Hydro power
- Wind turbines
- Sky lights
- CFL/LED lighting
- Livestock
- Recycling
- Greenhouses
- Local farmers markets
- Composting toilets
- Natural farming
- Reusing
- Re-purposing furniture and other materials
Here you will be able to access a presentation more in depth to what we decided to use for our center. With all the options we had available to us, we tried to decide what would work best within this community: Presentation Access
Here is a link to the proposal that describes the construction of the visitor's center. Proposal Access
It is quite pricey to be self sustainable. If you think of the ever lasting effects of preserving our environment it seems a little more beneficial. Also, most economically efficient products are longer lasting than other materials. While working on this project we put together a spreadsheet including the costs. These numbers may vary a little : Spreadsheet Access
