Sustainable Living Tips by Lee Leffler

Sustainable Living Center Will Be Unique in the Country

Press Conference and Earth Day Event Scheduled for 12:45 p.m. April 22

On Earth Day, April 22, the walls and the roof will go up on Maharishi University of Management’s new Sustainable Living Center — a building that will set a new standard for green building in America by being completely off the grid with respect to electricity, heating and cooling, water, and waste.

The Sustainable Living Center has been designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, the highest standard for sustainable design and green building in the world. It will be one of the first three to achieve this. And it will be unique because it will be the first to combine that standard with the standards of LEED Platinum certification, Building Biology, and Maharishi Vedic Architecture.

“There’s no other building like this going up in the nation, or in the world for that matter, that we know of,” said nationally known green building expert Mike Nicklas, who co-designed the building and whose company Innovative Design has designed over 4000 buildings that use renewable energy solutions.

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Are you ready for the EcoFair 2010 in Fairfield, Iowa on April 30-May 2?

Held on the Maharishi University of Management campus, this year’s EcoFair will feature Diana Leafe Christian, the author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, speaking on Spiritually Oriented Ecovillages. Also, you will hear Mark Lakeman and Micahel Cook on City Repair and the Power of Placemaking. Meet Mike Nicklas, president and co-founder of Innovative Design, Inc., who will talk about Key Strategies for Green Development. And more. Speaker’s list. Schedule.

On Sunday May 2, the Ecofair will become an Unconference using Open Space Technology. Open Space Technology is a highly participatory process that has been successfully employed in multiple situations all over the world. Learn more.

Mark Your Calendar!

Join us for Iowa’s Fifth Annual Natural Living Expo on March 27-28, 2010. We are the first Iowa expo to showcase natural, healthy and green living. We are enthusiastic about Connecting the Community! If you are looking for a fun way to promote your business, sign up to be an exhibitor. Visit the Natural Living Expo website to sign up to exhibit. Feel free to call any of our sales team with questions: Laurie 515-276-6971 / Tizzy 515-681-6781 / Angela 515-205-5494.

The Natural Living Expo is actively seeking volunteers! Volunteers are a vital role in making the Natural Living Expo a fantastic and fun-filled event for everyone. We have many options for service:

• Flier and poster distribution beginning February 25, 2010.
• Set up on Friday, March 26, 2010 at the Polk County Convention Complex. Assist vendors in the unloading and set up of their booth.
• Expo weekend – we need greeters, ticket takers, vendor relations, stage crew, and more.

To sign up, please email tizzy@naturallivingexpo.org or call Tizzy at 515-681-6781.

The *cool* volunteer t-shirt will be available mid-March.