Discovery Center receives LEED Gold certification

The interactive science center’s new building is the first in southwest Missouri to become LEED Gold certified, according to Marketing Director Charlotte McCoy. In a $6 million renovation and addition, completed late last year, the center took steps from the beginning to make the building as environmentally responsible as possible, she said.

To be LEED certified, a building must score well in five areas: sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. The Discovery Center added categories in innovation in design, green-building education and green housekeeping – and scored well in them, as well, McCoy said.

Gold is the second-highest level of certification. Platinum is the highest, and silver and certified follow gold.

Aside from being built with environmentally friendly materials, the new building collects rainwater and has large windows and photovoltaic solar panels to light and heat the inside. It also was constructed in a particular shape that lets light in but shades the windows to regulate indoor heating.

The benefits to being LEED certified are many, McCoy said, especially for an organization that works directly with the public.

“We can show this off to the public and educate the kids as well as the adults,” she said. “We’re the service, by providing it to the public to say, ‘Hey, learn this stuff, and take it home and do it yourself.’”

McCoy added that she’s fielded numerous inquiries from other businesses wanting to incorporate green building at their facilities.

“It’s just a huge thing,” she said. “Green’s not just a color anymore.”

View SBJ’s special Building the Ozarks Green series by clicking here.