Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series about environmental issues on campus.

The College of Design is researching ways to become more environmentally friendly while designing its new addition.

The studios, currently in the Armory, will be replaced with 22,000 square-feet of new studio space in the College of Design Building, made possible by a $1 million donation from Steve and Barb King, 1968 ISU alumni.

The Kings started a company called Landscape Structures Inc. in Delano, Minn., in 1971 which focuses on creating playgrounds that use recycled materials and sustainable building practices.

Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design, said the college will design the building’s addition in a way that has the lowest impact on the environment.

“We agreed that the addition to the college would be certified for sustainability,” Engelbrecht said.

The college will use the money to establish the King Laboratory for Sustainable Design Practice.

A group of students and faculty will design the laboratory. The group is comprised of nine students, Kevin Nordmeyer, lecturer in architecture, and Dean Morton, university architect.

“There are senior students in architecture, landscape architecture and interior design who are working with the campus architect to program this addition for sustainable design practices,” Engelbrecht said.

Kyle Martin, senior in architecture and one of the students involved in the project, said group members want the building to have as little of an effect on the environment as possible.

“The building should act as a filter to the environment,” Martin said. “We want the new addition to become a living laboratory.”

The groups’ goals for the addition are to cut down on water consumption and use natural ventilation, natural lighting and passive heating.

“In one year, the current building uses over two million gallons of water – and a lot of that is flushing toilets and washing hands,” said Martin. “We want to cut down on that in the new addition.”

The team suggested a recycling program for the thousands of projects that get thrown away at the end of the year.

“It’s going to involve a huge culture change in our college to get this done,” Engelbrecht said.

Engelbrecht said he wants the laboratory to be an ongoing part of the college.

“My dream is that the building actually becomes a kind of laboratory,” Engelbrecht said.

“We could have an ongoing studio or class work that would be associated with the performance of this addition relative to sustainability.”

The Council on Sustainability, a campus environmental group, will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in room 15 in Curtiss Hall. More information can be obtained at Sustainability.iastate.edu/sustainability.