Nature Conservancy Indiana HQ gets top certification

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Nature Conservancy's energy-efficient Indiana headquarters has been certified with a top energy rating for innovations that include three wind turbines.

Nature Conservancy Indiana director Mary McConnell says the downtown Indianapolis building has received a platinum-level certification under U.S. Green Building Council guidelines known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.

She says the Efroymson Conservation Center's certification for its energy and water-efficient features makes it Indiana's most energy-efficient building. The center opened in 2010 with efficiencies that include a geothermal system that taps the Earth's natural heat storage capacity to both heat and cool the 20,000-square-foot building.

Since its founding in 1959, the conservancy's Indiana chapter has protected about 70,000 acres of Indiana forests, wetlands, caves and prairie harboring rare or endangered plants and animals.