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Earth-friendly building practices create ecological paradise at Prairiewoods

 

A solar panel provides electricity to the hermitages at Prairiewoods

When the decision was made to build two hermitages at Prairiewoods Spirituality Center, Hiawatha, Iowa, in 1999, straw bale insulation was chosen as an environmentally-friendly endeavor which is also energy-efficient. In fact, straw bale insulation has been shown to have an R value of 50, more than double the typical home insulation. But organizers at the spirituality center, which has been built upon earth-friendly principles, didn’t stop there.

Solar panels have long been used to heat water for the guest house showers and laundry facilities, and a solar panel supplies all of the direct current electricity to the hermitages. The solar panel rack is adjustable, to alter solar energy production through the year as the angle of the sun changes. In addition, workers constructed a wetland septic, which filters waste water from the hermitages while diversifying habitat with wetland plants. The hermitages are a reflection of the efforts at Prairiewoods as a whole: wide-ranging environmentally-friendly practices that ensure the experience visitors have ties spirituality to ecology, and inspires them long after they’ve left the center.

Passive solar trombe walls were installed in the on site staff residence to provide heat into the evening. This brick wall absorbs sunlight that comes through the window, then slowly releases heat. A south-facing sun porch in the residence directs sunlight to the floor, which radiates heat even on the coldest of days and brings warmth into the apartments.

At Prairiewoods, the quest to be Earth-friendly is an ongoing effort. Staff work faithfully to research and bring in new alternative energy features that will benefit the sustainability of the Earth.

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