Native grasses and wildflowers grow on the roof on the new addition to the Pioneers Park Nature Center as a way to save energy.

Instead of buying new, the Lincoln Children’s Museum re-used tons of metal, old doors, wood trim, carpeting and plumbing fixtures in their downtown building.

 These are just two local examples of green building, the practice of designing and building structures that help save energy, natural resources and the environment.

  Cecil Steward, president of the Joslyn Castle Institute for Sustainable Communities in Omaha, would like to see more green building projects across Nebraska, and eventually, cities and towns adopting green building standards.

 To promote the effort, his organization is spearheading efforts to raise awareness and educate the public how green building can help create sustainable communities for the future.

 Those efforts include sponsoring a series of workshops and seminars in conjunction with a diverse partnership of professional organizations, nonprofit groups, businesses, agencies, cities and counties.  They are doing so under the umbrella banner of “Envisioning Nebraska.” The first seminar, which is free and open to the public, is Aug. 23.

“Sixty to 70 percent of the energy that is consumed is related in one way or another to buildings and infrastructure,” Steward said in an interview. “We have a huge opportunity if we can develop (green building) design principles and conservation initiatives.”

Nancy Furman, coordinator of Pioneers Park Nature Center, believes the green building concept is a wonderful idea. In addition to the unique roof, comprised of native plants and a special soil/shell mixture, the new addition utilizes geothermal heating and cooling, straw bale construction on some walls, recycled materials and a rainwater harvesting system.

“Not only did we want it for ourselves but we wanted it as a teaching tool for other developers and homeowners,” Furman said.

 Initially, the Joslyn foundation and its partners will focus on Omaha and Lincoln but eventually they want to branch out to other parts of Nebraska and create a statewide green building program.

 Two organizations are already laying the groundwork. The Green Omaha Coalition is providing a framework for green building initiatives in the metropolitan area and also serves as a resource for government, businesses and citizens.

 Lincoln Green By Design is focusing on a long list of green building initiatives including: reduce energy use in buildings, promote green buildings, encourage diversity in energy generation, and improve municipal fleets and encourage incentives to improve fuel efficiency.

The Lincoln Electric System, the mayor’s office,  city-county planning and building and safety departments, Lincoln Public Schools, the Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department, NEBCO,  B & J Partnership, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are among the nearly 20 partners of Lincoln Green By Design.

Steward said a long-term goal is to get the City of Lincoln to adopt a formal green building program. He said more than 20 cities across the nation have adopted green building standards. Part of the adoption process includes looking at building codes and planning structures for  “avenues of facilitation as well as barriers to green building design.”

Mike Rezac, owner of Rezac Construction in Lincoln and president of the Nebraska State Greenbuilders Association, said builders are not in favor of a mandated green building standard for the city.

“We don’t want to see it mandated. We’d rather see it market-driven,” said Rezac, adding that such mandated green standards “create housing costs beyond our control.”

Rezac has been building energy-efficient homes for the last 12 years, using many green standards.

 “My philosophy is any shade of green is good,” he said, whether a person changes to fluorescent lighting or increases the insulation in their homes.

Lincoln and two other Nebraska cities, Omaha and Bellevue, have taken an initial step. The three communities signed a unanimous resolution at the U.S. Conference of Mayors last year that sets goals for reducing energy consumption in all new and renovated buildings in the coming years.

The goal is to be carbon neutral — meaning that they balance out their use of fossil energy with renewable energy — by 2030.

One of the primary goals of green building is to address climate change, especially global warming. Fossil fuels are a main source of greenhouse gases, which are warming the Earth. Steward said green  building helps lower our energy use  and conserve our air, water and other natural  resources.

“The real challenge is to help people understand that there is an unintended but disastrous consequence in front of us,” Steward said.

 Steward said he would like to see the proposed downtown arena, and other projects championed by the 2015 Vision group, use green building designs, materials and technology.

David Ochsner, director of communications for the Joslyn Castle Institute, noted that no one is talking about the consequences of building such massive structures in the traditional way. He said they represent “huge opportunities” for the city of Lincoln in the area of green building.

Said Ochsner: “It has to be done right. It will be with us for years and the cost will be with us for years.”

Added Steward: “Done correctly there are economic benefits to be realized.”

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 402-473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.