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NewsNovember 30, 2003

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Department of Natural Resources is putting up a new building, and it's trying to make the structure live up to the agency's conservation-minded mission. The $17 million project is called a "green" building because it incorporates many environmentally friendly features...

By Kelly Wiese, The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Department of Natural Resources is putting up a new building, and it's trying to make the structure live up to the agency's conservation-minded mission.

The $17 million project is called a "green" building because it incorporates many environmentally friendly features.

Among them are fins on the south side of the building that are designed to reflect sunlight into offices while also including shelves to deflect the sun's heat. Sensitive switches inside will automatically dim the lights as sunlight brightens the place.

Solar panels will convert sunlight to electricity to offset some of the cost of lighting, heating and cooling the building.

Other design concepts include a large holding tank that will collect rainwater and then reuse it to flush toilets in the building, and retention ponds that are meant to eliminate runoff.

"We don't want any water falling outside the boundaries of our building," said Dan Walker, the department's general services director who is overseeing the project for the agency. "We do not want to degrade the Earth around this building."

With hammers and drills hard at work behind him, a hard-hatted Walker said he has been learning plenty about sustainable design, and believes that if people give it a chance, the extra money invested now will pay off in energy savings alone within a few years.

The building also will try to make efficient use of space, eliminating many private offices and creating individual cubicles instead.

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The grounds around the building overlooking the Missouri River will be filled with native plants and trees, with the idea of making it not only look natural but also requiring less water and effort to maintain it. Prairie grass, for example, will be used, giving the place a more wild look than sculpted, golf-course type lawns that many office buildings display.

"We should not have to take care of them," he said. "It will look rather natural."

The Natural Resources building project is part of the redevelopment of the 142-acre state prison property. The prison is expected to close and move to a new site on the eastern edge of town next summer, and the state has plans from hotels and restaurants to office space to reuse that land. The "green" building complex will take up about 2 1/2 acres and be a buffer between the office space part of the site and the area that will be left undeveloped.

The site formerly housed a Department of Corrections training center. The building would not work for Natural Resources, so it was torn down, but the materials were reused or recycled, Walker said.

As the building takes shape, workers also are recycling materials from the site, including paper and aluminum, and using wood several times before scrapping it.

Even materials such as carpeting and furniture have certain requirements on recycled content.

Designers also decided a large asphalt parking lot would not fit in with the concept for the area, and parking garages will be built nearby later as the rest of the offices on the site develop. But for now, Natural Resources is working to find parking space elsewhere for employees and shuttle them over. The building also will be along the city bus line and even provide racks and showers for workers that want to ride bicycles to their jobs.

The 120,000-square-foot office building is about one-third complete already, with the hope of finishing it next August and moving in in October or November. It will house most of the agency's divisions.

"Things are tight, but this building will set a precedent for state buildings," Walker said. "We want to be the first of many."

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