The new Hy-Vee store planned for Fairfield will be the company’s second store built in accordance with LEED certification standards, Hy-Vee officials announced today.

This fantastic news is not only exciting for the quality of service the facility will bring consumers; but means that this site, identified as a priority site for storm water runoff capture, will incorporate best practices in sustainable construction.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the nationally accepted benchmark for environmentally sustainable construction. Developed and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED certification program provides independent, third-party verification that a building project meets certain standards for lowering operating costs, reducing waste, conserving resources and providing a healthy environment for occupants and visitors.

In October, Hy-Vee opened its first LEED-eligible retail store in Madison, WI and is awaiting word on the status of its LEED certification application, said Jeff Markey, Assistant Vice President, Engineering/Construction for Hy-Vee. Markey said Fairfield will become the company’s second LEED-eligible project when construction on the new store begins this spring.

Hy-Vee previously had announced plans to build a new 64,000-square-foot store (almost double the size of the current store it replaces) at Burlington and South 14th Street, behind the Burger King. Plans for the new store have not been completed, but it is expected to include a pharmacy with drive-up service, a wine & spirits store, a floral shop and a food court with Chinese and Italian departments.

Many conservation groups in town have been eyeing this site with hope and concern. The Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District received a watershed development grant to study the Indian Creek watershed, and Pathfinders RC&D coordinated with the Iowa Conservation Corps to do an urban assessment.

After this six month process the new Hy-Vee location was identified as a top priority site to capture and infiltrate storm water runoff because of its position above a tributary of Indian Creek. Ongoing conversations between the Sustainability Coordinator for Hy-Vee, Mike Smith, and the Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Fairfield, Scott Timm, have built a relationship that highlights the City’s commitment to sustainability as well as the strong dedication of Hy-Vee to engage with our community.

Seeking LEED certification means that design of construction will take into account impact on waterways – thus this is a big win for the city and those who are located downstream of our watershed.

Commenting on the Hy-Vee decision to go LEED Certified, Mayor Malloy stated, “We have all contributed to building an environment where these decisions are made because of the commitment our city has made.”

On Thursday, February 11th the Center on Sustainable Communities will bring their entire team to visit Fairfield to scout out the city as a potential site for their summer programming.

The Center on Sustainable Communities had a connection with Fairfield from its inception. Lynnae Hentzen, their Executive Director, moved to Iowa in 2004 and wanted to perform a green upgrade on her “new old home”. She had a difficult time finding anyone who knew what she was talking about – until she came to Fairfield and linked up with Joel Hirschberg at Green Building Supply. She was amazed at the wealth of resources in a town that she considers to be the “greenest spot in Iowa”.

She was a stay at home mom for two years, and began thinking about how she could help create a satellite of green buildings in Des Moines and Iowa. She partnered with Beth Hicks and founded COSC, whose annual budget is now over one million dollars and holds award-winning workshops across the state. The mission of COSC is to “serve as a resource to encourage, promote and educate about sustainable building practices among professionals and homeowners.” They are currently running a free 10-session series in West Union for contractors, subcontractors, planners, architects, appraisers, city officials and other professionals to develop a “comprehensive understanding of green building best practices” – and also to support disaster recovery efforts in Northeast Iowa.

Recently, when the City of Fairfield was awarded an Office of Energy Independence grant to upgrade and retrofit their public buildings – Scott Timm, Sustainability Coordinator for Fairfield, began communicating with Lynnae to see if the City could utilize COSC programming to run educational workshops around those projects or other private projects planned for this summer. Now that it looks very likely that the City will forge this partnership with COSC, we would like to invite businesses and community members who have an interest in COSC to attend the monthly Greendrinks meeting this coming Thursday the 11th at 12pm, upstairs in Revelations.

Lynnae remarked, “We’re just excited to see what role we can play to support the initiatives that are going on down there.” This is a fantastic opportunity to create professional development opportunities for a wide range of Fairfield residents, and we look forward to growing our partnership with COSC!