It tells its occupants, through its use of durable and low maintenance materials but high in recycled content, that resource conservation is important. Both the mechanical systems and the solar design continually demonstrate methodologies for reducing energy use. It values our forests by requiring that all wood products are supplied according to the standards and specification language endorsed by the Forest Stewardship Council. The previously mentioned Living Machine teaches the natural purification processes of ponds and marshes. The attention paid to the building as pedagogy also is evident as one approaches the south entrance where a slender column, a gnomon, acts as a sundial marking the summer and winter solstice.
All landscaping is indigenous, comprised of the species commonly found in northeastern Ohio.
Phase Two of the project, yet to be built as fund-raising efforts continue, will add a greenhouse and wet lab on property adjacent to the center where students can learn about farming, crops and ecology. The college owns 70 acres not far from Oberlin that will be developed as a farm and a learning lab to experiment with emerging technologies, including renewable energy techniques such as wind towers and fuel cells. Straw bale and post beam construction ideas will be tried. In other words, the on-campus building and the farm are to be a conduit of ideas and are designed to the standard of what students need to know. These are evolving projects that will change dramatically over the next century as technologies change and improve.