Leon County Sustainable Demonstration Center

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

Through the use of cutting-edge energy and water technologies, combined with educational outreach Leon County has transformed a 50-year-old building into a state-of-the-art Sustainable Demonstration Center at the Leon County Cooperative Extension Office. The Center has been certified as a Zero Net Energy by the New Buildings Institute becoming one of only seven retrofitted buildings in the nation with this distinction, and the only local government facility. In addition to the building producing as much energy as it consumes, cisterns store and reuse 400,000 of rainwater for irrigation over the course of a year. The transformation is two-fold, consisting of innovations in physical infrastructure, and operational best practices. This project is a major step in a larger, dynamic effort involving the government, businesses, and community at large in a series of education and action projects that “walk the walk” of sustainability in areas of water and energy conservation as well as civic engagement. The Center serves as a primary tool to spread awareness and inspire action towards sustainability. Beneficiaries of this resource creation include community students and residents, area consultants and private sector vendors, as well as policy makers.