Pieper Power Education Center

Mequon, WI

The Education Center, located in the 438 acre Mequon Nature Preserve, houses numerous educational programs and activities. Every meeting space offers views of the outdoors. The building itself plays a role in fulfilling the educational mission of the Nature Preserve by demonstrating sound and cost effective practices that will limit the building’s impact on the environment. The PieperPower Education Center is the city’s first “green” or “sustainable” built environment.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Numerous donors helped renovate an existing 12,000 square foot building . Every building improvement helps achieve the goals outlined in the LEED Gold Level program. The rating system defines high performance green buildings—which are healthier, more environmentally responsible and more cost efficient structures. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The project-wide goals are to create a sustainable site; achieve greater efficiencies in water and energy use; use materials with less environmental impact; establish good indoor environmental quality; and show exemplary performance in the operations and maintenance of the building. To demonstrate an operating renewable energy system, the Education Center now has a wind turbine that supplies a significant amount of the Education Center’s electricity.
Updating the conventional roof includes upper tiers shingled with Energy-Star rated recycled plastic shingles and vegetated lower tiers with live sedum plants to keep the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Excess water drains into a colorful rain garden. Large windows provide vies af the serene natural surrounds and brings natural light deep into the building.