Surprisingly, St. Louis is home to some of the greenest buildings in the world.
The Alberici Headquarters, with it’s windmill visible from I70 at Page Avenue, was one of the first Platinum LEED buildings in America to break ground in 2004, and over eight years later, still stands today as one of the greenest buildings in the world.
Crossroads Preparatory School, renovated in 2008 and located in the CWE, was the first Platinum level school built in the Midwest, and is still setting the standard in terms of curriculum and school culture.
Most surprising is the fact that one of the greenest buildings in the world, the Tyson Research Center, built by Washington University as a working learning center, makes it’s home near Eureka. The Tyson building is one of only three buildings in the world to meet the “Living Building” criteria, which is the next evolution beyond the LEED rating system.
Two cutting edge private homes are currently under construction in Saint Louis, and both are a first for the region. One is the Active House, with it’s emphasis on well-being, coming to completion in Webster Groves. The other is the Passive House, not to be confused with Passive Solar, which is being built in Dogtown and is all about super-thick walls, which effectively maintain a pleasant internal climate.
Green Spiral Tours is a “family adventure school” that spirals the calendar looking for fun ways to connect families and nature. Because new families are in the infrastructure building phase of life, with important long term decisions to make, Green Spiral likes to visit at least one green building each winter. It’s refreshing to see new ideas in play, and surprisingly, Saint Louis has more green buildings than one might think.
You can learn more about how to tour some of these buildings on your own, and why they matter, by clicking here, or you can come with Green Spiral Tours by joining the email list. Simply send a note to GreenSpiralTours@gmail.com.