Ball State University played a key role in Cope Environmental Center earning a unique status that only 28 other buildings worldwide have received. The Centerville, Indiana, center has been awarded “Living Building Certification“ by the International Living Future Institute.

Earning this special certification is the result, in large part, of multi-year collaborative efforts that included Ball State faculty and students; Cope Environmental Center staff; and design architect Kevin McCurdy, a Ball State graduate of the College of Architecture and Planning. Mr. McCurdy is a partner at LWC Incorporated.

Living Building Certification is issued in recognition of the achievement of the highest proficiency in the categories of Place, Water, Energy, Health and Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty.

Ball State contributors to this collaboration came from the University’s Center for Energy Research/Education/Service (CERES) faculty, staff, and students, including Robert Koester, Ball State professor of Architecture and CERES director; CERES operations manager (ret.) Jeff Culp; and CERES research assistants and CAP graduates Lauren McWhorter and Ben Grayson.

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