Locust Trace AgriScience Center: Lexington, KY

Net Zero on the Farm

At the Locust Trace AgriScience Center, students learn agriculture by doing. The hands-on approach to learning takes place in a variety of settings, including an on-site veterinary clinic, a greenhouse, barn and an academic building and arena that are covered in solar panels. The project reduces site impact by minimizing municipal water use and includes measures that preclude the need for a storm water sewer or sanitary sewer connection. Energy demand is greatly reduced by an integrated design that features an airtight envelope, expanded indoor temperature setpoints in specified areas, a solar thermal system and a geothermal heat pump. This approach serves as a model for communities and school systems seeking to reduce their energy use and environmental impact of new developments.