We have finally slipped into a more typical Iowa winter, even if we are lacking a good solid snowfall. With heaters inside the building keeping it a moderate 55 degrees, progress continues.

 

Those temperatures have allowed Ryan Companies to dry out the 4 inches of ice that had fallen inside the building before it was enclosed and install “floor board,” a cardboard-type product that will protect the concrete from damage during construction.

The warm air has also enabled the last of the interior concrete slab to be poured in the mechanical room and around the columns.
The carpenters are nearly finished framing the interior wall structures and installing the sheathing.

Looking out of the pass-through window of the kitchen, across the auditorium into the main exhibit hall.
Next week, progress should resume on the exterior of the building. WIndows are on-site, ready to be installed. The stone masons will create a tent and heat the space,  allowing them to continue working.

The trusses of Amazing Space are going up.

Not only does that move us closer to being enclosed before cold weather, but it is a visible reminder that the environmental impacts of this project extend far beyond the building itself. Each beam and board purchased for the project meets high environmental, sustainable, and socially responsible standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Once upon a time, the forests of the United States were clear cut for their lumber. Even before the invention of the chainsaw, companies would cut all of the trees out of an area and then move on to the next area. Ecological communities were devastated and mudslides were common. Modern equipment accelerated both the speed of the destruction and the areas that could be reached for logging. The old growth forests are essentially gone across the United States. Old growth forests are disappearing worldwide as developing countries cut and burn their forests to provide a place to grow annual agriculture crops or graze cattle, or cut their trees for milling without replanting.

The Forest Stewardship Council was founded in 1993 to provide a set of voluntary standards for timber companies to follow. This allowed consumers purchasing the wood to make an informed choice in how their lumber is produced, and created the market for sustainable wood.

When we made the decision to only purchase FSC wood, a requirement set by the Living Building Challenge, we were concerned about what that would cost. We were pleasantly surprised that the premium for sustainably harvested, certified lumber products has dropped significantly, and even with a wood frame building, quite affordable. What was more challenging was finding suppliers of FSC wood and FSC wood products. There is high demand for certified products, and most of the timber industry in the United States now practices some level of sustainable harvesting, as part of a sound business model. Replanting trees, for example, ensures a future for the industry.

There are 10 principles that must be met to receive the Forest Stewardship Council certification, ranging from protecting the rights of indigenous people to monitoring forests and replanting efforts over the long-term. The principles create a comprehensive, holistic approach to sustainably incorporate wood products into our lives.

A few of the Forest Stewardship Council’s Principles:

Principle #4: Community Relations and Worker’s Rights – Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local communities.

Principle #5: Benefits From the Forest: Forest management operations shall encourage the efficient use of the forest’s multiple products and services to ensure economic viability and a wide range of environmental and social benefits.

Principle #6: Environmental Impact: Forest management shall conserve biological diversity and its associated values, water resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosystems and landscapes, and, by so doing, maintain the ecological functions and the integrity of the forest.

Soil provides a foundation for all other life. It determines which wild plants flourish, which animals survive, and which crops grow. That doesn’t change on a construction site. How the soils are treated before, during, and after construction have repercussions long after the backhoes pull out and planted saplings reach maturity. For the Amazing Space project, we implemented a variety of strategies to maintain healthy soils.

The construction fence keeps machinery within the boundary of the project. Heavy equipment, dumpsters, and stockpiles of rock and supplies destroy the existing vegetation and compact the soil. Keeping that impact confined to a small area protects the surrounding forest and prairie.

The topsoil, full of rich organic material, was scraped off the entire area and stockpiled. At the end of construction, this soil will be respread six inches thick over the area, creating a place for new plants to take root in healthy soil.

The pile of soil was immediately planted with a cover crop, to protect it from erosion. As work finishes in different areas, those areas will also be planted with a stabilizing crop (a combination of oats, rye and wheat).

To prevent heavy rains from washing silt and sediment out of the project site and into the neighboring prairies, ditches and creeks, erosion socks and silt fences were established. They are monitored weekly and after rains for any problems that may occur.

These basic steps will ensure the area around the project remain healthy, and that the soils on the site will support everything from the edible forest to the pollinator garden.