The Stanley Center for Peace and Security has big plans for its new headquarters in downtown Muscatine. It's going to spend six million dollars to renovate the former Musser Library, and turn it into a showplace for environmental sustainability.
President Keith Porter says since climate change is one of their top issues, the center decided to design it to meet the Living Building Challenge.
"And requires that you think about the mental and physical well-being of the people who occupy the building. It has very high environmental standards. It talks a lot about how you give back to the community, and how you occupy that space and honor the culture and honor the neighborhood."
That means being self-sufficient, and generating all of its own energy.
"And if we do it, it will be the first building in Iowa, one of the first buildings in our area to achieve this standard, and I think there's only been one other renovation in the country that has achieved the Living Building Challenge."
The Stanley Center is currently located one block away in downtown Muscatine in the Laurel Building. And it was founded in 1956 to work globally on climate change, avoiding the use of nuclear weapons, and preventing mass violence.
Renovation should begin early next year, and be completed one year later.
