Sustainability

EcoDomo leather tiles will add another green component and sophisticated style to Independence Station, the mixed-use facility expected to become the World’s Greenest Building when it opens in Independence, OR, next year. Made from the discarded scraps from BMW car seat manufacturers and other tanneries, EcoDomo leather tiles will cover floors and walls in parts of the building.

EcoDomo LLC shreds leather scraps that would otherwise be discarded in landfills. In a process similar to the production of recycled paper, the leather is bound together using natural rubber and Acacia tree sap. Tiles are hand-stitched in the United States by Amish artisans, then finished with the EasyContact™ adhesion system. The resulting tiles offer the look and feel of genuine leather at a fraction of the cost while also providing peace of mind with regards to installation, maintenance and performance.

Most people think of composting as dirty. And can you blame them? After all the image that comes to mind involves worms, trash, dirt, and old food scraps; all of which jumbled together does not paint a pretty picture. So what to do. As the world’s greenest building it would be inappropriate not to dispose of our trash in some eco-friendly manner, yet cultivating foul garbage inside one’s home is a seemingly lackluster option.

Enter here, the NatureMill automatic composter.

This innovative trash transformer turns the stomach-churning idea of compost into a thing of the past. The NatureMill automatic composter is guaranteed no fuss and best of all, no smell.

All fifteen of the Independence Station condos will be outfitted with the NatureMill product. Located in the heart of the home, the kitchen, families will simply deposit daily food scraps into the top of the composter. After two weeks of a painless and odor-less process, residents may begin removing rich compost to use as they please. May we suggest a small organic outdoor garden?

Thanks so much to Brent Drewry for his recent blog post Green Building Innovators: The New Space Race. This post has given us a whole new perspective to what exactly it is we are completing here with our work on Independence Station. When he first heard about the World’s Greenest Building project, the first thing that came to mind for him was how similar it is to the International Space Station. Now, it’s easy to see the similarity in regards to different countries competing to achieve the same title, but Brent takes it to a new level.

The reason he thinks our work at Independence Station is like the race into space is because of the “ingenuity, collaboration and iconic view of the future they both represent.”

I recently travelled to Lake Mead, Hoover Dam to be specific. I have passed by there at least a dozen times over my lifetime, but this last time was a real wakeup call. The level of the lake that supports so many people is beyond low. As a result, I have really put some thought into how to both harvest rainwater and to conserve water in Independence Station. To start with, we have turned to the experts at Kohler and the EPA WaterSense program to stretch what we use. From ingenious shower heads to water saving faucets and ultra low flush toilets, Kohler has really come through for us.

Once we have the plumbing efficiency covered, the next crucial step is user education to break old wasteful habits such as leaving the water flowing while brushing teeth and shaving while in the shower. I’ve been guilty of this for many years and have recently started shaving after my shower. Without a committed user, all the water saving fixtures will do little good.