Building Capacity

Water Conservation: Hidden Benefit of Energy Efficiency

Some time ago, we in the green building world realized that while energy efficiency is a critically important aspect of sustainability, water conservation merits equal attention. Without energy, we might get cold and be inconvenienced. Without water, we die in a matter of hours or days.

In the US, water has been seen as universal, ubiquitous – an infinitely available, low cost commodity. Yet the politics of water supply define the development of the western US. You need only look at the sad reality of the Colorado River, the energy intensity of the California Aqueduct system or the ecosystem politics of the Columbia River Basin to see that the storage and distribution of water is far from low cost or infinitely available. Read or watch “The Cadillac Desert” for a quick, if slightly dated, education.

The consumer’s perception that water is inexpensive, however, has led to a lack of interest in water conservation, particularly when compared to the current focus on energy conservation. News Flash! – while we’ve been staring at our insulation levels and measuring our building air changes, things have changed in the world of water – market forces are at work.

I’d like to use the work we’re doing with Quadrant Homes as an illustrative example. In 2008, we started working with Quadrant Homes and the Northwest Energy Star program to develop an energy upgrade path for Quadrant’s homebuyers to meet the Federal Energy Efficiency Tax Credit. This meant a 50% reduction in space conditioning energy below the IECC 2005 model code; perhaps a 25% improvement over our Washington Energy Code (WSEC)of 2006. Over time, they have continued to evolve their designs, equipment efficiencies, and construction quality to keep their energy performance substantially ahead of our local codes, which already set a high bar.

While this attention to detail has led to comfort and durability benefits for their customers, the already high code threshold, our moderate climate and the low cost of energy in the region, means that the achieved energy conservation of a Quadrant Home, compared to a WSEC 2009 code home, converts to roughly $250 in savings to the homeowner each year .

In compliance with the new Energy Star requirements, Quadrant is installing water conserving fixtures in kitchen (1.5 gpm) and bathroom (1.0 gpm) faucets, and shower heads (1.75 gpm). The intent of this, from the Energy Star perspective, is to reduce the demand for domestic hot water – that’s where a good chunk of the energy savings come from.

What has surprised us is the economic benefit to the homeowner of the water conservation measures. Using standardized consumption calculations and code-required fixtures to calculate a baseline for comparison, we’re seeing a savings of roughly 19,000 gallons (25.6 hundred cubic feet – CCF) of potable water per year. In a typical example suburban neighborhood with water metering, homeowners are paying $4.97/CCF for water and $5.31/CCF for sewer – that’s a savings of $263 per year – equivalent to the energy savings from the Energy Star certification. So a new Quadrant home saves you about $50/month in combined energy and water savings. That’s significant!

If you were to add a 1.1 gallon average flush toilet and Energy Star clothes washer and dishwasher (which both use less water than standard models) the savings increase to 27,200 gallons or 36.4 CCF, bringing another $10 per month in savings.

Green building is best seen a whole systems approach – by focusing on all the resources consumed in a building, developers, owners, and our society in general can realize fortuitous but often hidden synergies such those illustrated in the Quadrant example.

Alistair Jackson, CSBA is a Principal at O’Brien & Company. He was involved in the development of the original LEED for Homes Pilot Rating System and is, among other things, the Quality Assurance Designee (QAD) for O’Brien & Company’s role as LEED for Homes Provider. He is a strong advocate for market-led innovation and market transformation towards sustainability. He is also a father of two – and impatient for change towards a better future.

Green Schools From Top to Bottom: Interview with Kim Armstrong Co-Executive Director for Washington Green Schools

Washington Green Schools (WAGS) engages students and staff in K-12 schools throughout Washington State in recycling, saving energy, and other “green” actions. O'Brien & Company helped develop, pilot and launch the program under contract with the Clark County Solid Waste Division in 2008-2009. Kelly Kirkland of O'Brien & Company recently met with Kim Armstrong, WAGS Co-Executive Director,  to see how things are going.

Kelly: When we were launching the program we really wanted to make sure the program worked for schools and would be adopted. At the end of 2009 we had about 100 schools participating. How is participation now? Kim: We currently have 185 schools, representing nearly 95,000 students. Perhaps even more importantly, we have 63 school districts in 22 counties participating, so the program definitely has traction around the state. The higher the level of participation, the more new students are getting to know how school operations impact the environment, and how they can improve on that.

You mention nearly 95,000 students. How are teachers involved? Each school is required to have a green team that includes at least one teacher. We’ve also had hundreds of teachers participate in trainings that we've held around the state. Back on campus, sometimes the teachers are the main facilitator, but sometimes it’s a parent volunteer, school staff member, or the students themselves. Each green team gets to decide how their team will work together.

So it sounds like the program touches people at all levels in a school. Are you seeing improvements as a result? We are hearing from teachers that WA Green Schools gives context for students to get excited about learning math, science or writing a letter to the superintendent. Additionally, we are seeing real results through cost savings in a number of schools. For example, one school reported a reduction of $450/month in their energy bill. Another is saving almost $6000 by implementing a composting program that reduces their garbage pick-up from 5 to 3 days a week.

Wow, that's pretty significant news. Are you getting that kind of information from all the schools? Up to now, data like this not been systematically captured, but reported on a case by case basis from some of the schools as part of key findings. To remedy this, we've worked with a stakeholder group to come up with a new step in the process: "Verify and Reflect." Cost savings will be a metric common to most categories. For energy and water, data gathered will include consumption. For waste and recycling, data gathered will include generation and landfill diversion. We are still working on metrics for transportation and toxics, the two remaining environmental categories. Ultimately, we would like to aggregate data and add a carbon calculator to our website.

Have you found that the program really meets the needs of such a diverse age range of students? Definitely. We have all types of schools participating. Each green team tends to execute the program differently based on what’s appropriate for their students. One area where we have made some changes was originally called the “toxics” category. Few schools had chosen to pursue that category so we have created a new category called Healthy School Buildings, which has some elements of the previous toxics category.

It sounds like you continue to look for ways to improve the program. That's true. If you recall, something we heard even in the pilot stage, was the desire for alignment of the program with grade level standards and requirements. We recently received grant funding from WA STEM to align the waste and recycling activities with math standards for 4th grade math. This is a very exciting development.

Do you anticipate more alignments between subject areas in the program to grade level standards? Yes. We will continue to align with existing standards for the grade levels wherever we can. Besides the obvious educational benefit, this may be appealing for school districts that are not as interested in sustainability per se but interested in the experiential, hands-on nature of the activities associated with WA Green Schools. And it will make it easier for local advocates to get the attention of District decision makers.

What other improvements are you planning? Programmatically, we are considering a redesign of the certification program to include more rigor as schools move through the certification levels. Organizationally, we have a lot of work to do developing the Board and updating the strategic plan.

Any tips you'd like to share with other states trying to start similar programs? I would suggest taking the time to clearly define long term goals. Is education or resource conservation/operational efficiency the main goal? A program focused on resource-efficiency might put more emphasis on the measurement and verification of data. A program focused on engaging students might align with state learning requirements or offer a robust curriculum.. Then, develop a long term funding, strategic plan, and a program plan that enables you to meet the state’s educational structure. And, of course, use other state programs as a model and study best practices in learn from others! We benefited from looking at the Oregon Green Schools program  and the international Eco-Schools program.

In addition to leading WAGS, Kim Armstrong is the co-founder of Sound Footprint, a sustainability consulting firm serving schools and organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Kelly Kirkland, Project Associate, was on the original team at O'Brien & Company helping to develop and pilot the program.

Did you enjoy this article?  You might also like these Building Capacity Blog articles: 
LEED EB: O+M's Energy Threshold
Maier Hall at Peninsula College: Early Collaborative Process
Cool Factor: Youth Green Building Careers Symposia Inspires

Everything is Connected! Environmental Education and Community Center and Community Park Opens at Brightwater

In 2006, O'Brien & Company was selected by the Washington Energy Technology Center (now Innovate Washington) to conduct a strategic planning process for a Sustainable Energy Demonstration Lab (SEDL). As noted in our Final Report, The SEDL was intended to "foster the community’s knowledge of, and transition to, new energy saving technologies, with an emphasis on renewables."

The Lab is an element of the Environmental Education and Community Center (EECC) and Community Park, which opened with great celebration this past Saturday, September 24, 2011. It is always great fun to watch a dream unfold, so I was thrilled to get an invitation to the opening from The Friends of the Hidden River, a teacher-organized non-profit with whom we worked on the project. Lots of music, good food, public art, and perhaps most importantly, fun learning going on!

Early on, when the idea of a regional environmental education center was broached as mitigation for the Brightwater waste treatment facility, teachers from the region were adamant that in addition to covering water, the topic of sustainable energy should be part of the educational plan. "Everything is connected!" was a refrain heard over and over during the planning process for the SDEL, and making the connection between the water we use and treat and the energy system we consume to do that is indeed an important one.

Touring the EECC facility Saturday, I was pleased to see several elements of the SDEL in place. PV and Solar Hot Water Installations (funded by Snohomish County PUD) and related learning activities drew "students" of all ages, as did a solar oven and informational kiosks. Human operated bikes, artpieces in themselves, as well as electric vehicles, were in evidence on opening day to showcase green transportation modalities.

We anticipated in 2006 that the EECC facility would be a learning opportunity itself, and plans were to achieve LEED Gold Certification. Happily, (but perhaps not surprisingly given its constituents) the project team, including design firm Mithun, CH2MHill, the Project Managers at King County Wastewater Division as well as a host of others) blew past that goal to achieve LEED Platinum Certification. From our experience with LEED NC, this level of "green" would not have been possible without an aggressive approach to the Energy and Atmosphere Credits.

Two elements of the proposed Lab, an "Independence Hall" focused on promoting regional energy self-sufficiency, and an already-designed Energy Test Bed to test advanced emerging technologies are still awaiting funding, but a good foundation has been laid. Marie Hartford, with Friends of the Hidden River, is optimistic about these next steps. The group's grantwriter, Stephanie Hartford (yes, she's Marie's daughter!) has already enjoyed some success in gaining funding for the EECC and doesn't intend to stop.

Also, King County has indicated that if there is sufficient demand by teachers and schools to justify it, the County will work with the Friends on an addition to house Independence Hall on space that has already been provided adjacent to the new facility. The County has contracted with IslandWood to oversee the educational program at the EECC, and it's anticipated that this award-winning educational provider will ably grow regional demand.

While waiting for this next chapter of the story to unfold, it is well worth a trip to the Brightwater Campus if you live in or are visiting the Northwest. Besides the energy learning opportunities mentioned above, there are some absolutely fantastic displays and engagement activities teaching the what, why, and how, of waste water treatment, and ways to conserve water and maintain water quality at our homes and businesses. You can also chill out on over 40 acres of looping trails among restored natural settings and artwork.

Kathleen O'Brien is Founder of and Special Project Consultant for O'Brien & Company, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary as a green building and sustainability consultant. Kathleen attended the EECC's grand opening with Nora Daley-Peng, also of O'Brien & Company, who reviewed artwork for the site as an advisor to 4Culture, and her 4-year old son, Ronan.

 

 Did you enjoy this article? You might also like these Building Capacity Blog articles:
CSBA Reports on Developing a Green Building Education Plan
Interview with BIA-Hawaii’s Karen Nakamura
SBAi: Introducing the Next Generation of SBA Education & Service
CEFPI Award Celebrates Synergy Between Learning and Learning Facilities

Come Rain/Shine: Envisioning a net-zero water future

I arrived at Cascadia's recent all day Come Rain/Shine workshop thirsty for a deeper dialogue about water issues, obstacles to change, and solutions that make sense for Washington. Being a sustainability consultant, I’m well aware of the smart and simple steps –like low-flow fixtures, rain gardens, and bioswales – that we can do on every project to reduce water consumption and restore our ecosystem. I was looking for the giant leaps needed to achieve a net-zero water future. Happily, Come Rain/Shine quenched my thirst.

Living in Seattle, especially after experiencing an “extra wet” winter and spring, it is easy to take water for granted or even begrudge it. The fact is that all water is precious. Whether living in a region of abundant water like Seattle or a place where water is scarce like the high desert east of Cascade Mountains, all water is vulnerable to the same threats of climate change, deforestation, over development, pollution, and unsustainable water use behaviors. What better test bed for creating new ways to support healthy and resilient water systems than the State of Washington? This state’s extreme range of wet and dry climates presents unique challenges and opportunities to innovate. Like other innovations spawned in Washington, these solutions can be exported to wet and dry climates around the world.

A Call To Action: The Replacement Era

Early in the day, Steve Moddemeyer, Collins Woerman, pointed to the root cause of our water crisis saying, “Water connects all life, yet we disintegrate water into silos – potable water, rain water, storm water, gray water, and waste water.” Our decaying water infrastructure model is based on a time when energy was cheap and resources were plentiful. We focus on building “reliable” systems in an increasingly uncertain world. Yet, we have entered a time that compels us to change -- and perhaps be more agile than predictable. The Pacific Northwest region has the capacity to navigate and define this change with pragmatism and good-natured idealism.

Design alone won’t save us. The Bullitt Foundation's Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design & Construction, Seattle, is designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, but it won’t be able to treat its black water on site until the City’s health code allows it.

As great as new technology is, it is not the complete or only answer, either. As Katie Spataro, Cascadia Green Building Council, revealed through her research on alternative waste water treatment strategies (Toward Net Zero Water: Best Management Practices for Decentralized Sourcing and Treatment), when comparing the life cycle analysis of a natural system versus an engineered bio-membrane reactor, Mother nature wins again!

We can not overlook the important role of governance in moving us toward a more resilient environment. Chuck Clark, Cascade Water Alliance, stressed the need to look at a full-cost pricing of water systems (with price based on environment, economic, and social values). Full-cost pricing can lead to policy changes that in turn support design changes. In Washington, we allow net metering for solar energy. How about net metering for onsite water reuse?

Probably the most important key to solving this puzzle is our behavior. We need a willingness to experiment, collaborate, and advocate. Come Rain/Shine was a great forum to foster this spirit among a diverse group of elected leaders, public utilities representatives, designers, developers, and members from the non-profit sector and academia.

The Slam

Katrina Morgan, Fermata Consulting, introduced “the slam,” a brainstorming session on steroids – fast and concentrated. Teams worked on scenarios of differing scales from urban to small city to rural communities with the common goal of envisioning healthy, resilient water systems. There were only a few rules of engagement. The most important was to leave your day job at the door, represent yourself -not your organization. Nametags intentionally left company names off to reinforce this notion. Slam teams explored solutions from the multiple perspectives of design, technology, policy, and behavior.

I facilitated a slam session for a hypothetical new eco-city just east of the Cascade Mountains. Here, rainfall is less than eight inches per year. Although this is a dry and arid city, it sits along an 18-mile long lake. The city has access to a major highway. Our assignment was to invent an eco-city that protects the existing natural ecosystem while creating a healthy mix of industry, residences, and tourism.

We named our community “WOW” for “wise on water”. WOW offers an out-of-the ordinary experience from the moment you leave your car about a ¼ mile away from town at the “exchange and recharge” station. Here, you can plug your electric vehicle into solar powered charging stations and bike or walk into town. The city is compact and walkable with dozens of restaurants featuring local produce, artist studios, boutique hotels, urban farms, year-round residents, and a center for sustainable agriculture.

Scarcity of water drives design, technology, policy, and behavior in this community. Sewage is not conveyed with water. Instead, WOW uses composting toilets and the public utility picks up bio-solids. Waste water and stormwater are treated in beautiful constructed wetlands by the lakeside.There are no individual bathtubs, just stand-up showers with ultra low flow showerheads. But here’s the perk, WOW has a public bathhouse that is free and luxurious.

Organic farming happens within the town center instead of outside of it. This shift from large scale monoculture crops for national distribution to diverse crops for local sales supports a healthy ecosystem and creates an economic draw for WOW. This is a destination for all who want to unplug and enjoy the simple things of life.

The “New” Normal

Current water use is simple and wasteful. Net-zero water use, on the other hand, requires a complex approach--imitating nature’s water cycle--where potable water is sourced from many places, use, reused, cleansed and returned to nature. We won’t get there alone. Nor will we arrive there using a one-size fits all approach. Arrival requires a toolbox filled with design, technology, policy, and behavioral change tools, and individuals qualified and willing to use those tools creatively and appropriately for climate and cultural conditions.

Nora Daley-Peng, AICP, ASLA, CSBA, LEED AP is a Senior Project Associate with O'Brien & Company, providing project management and planning for green building projects. She is a regular contributor to the Building Capacity Blog, and recently participated in a committee reviewing the IP ANSI Standard organized by Vulcan Real Estate. Photo Credits: Miller Hull Partnership (Bullitt Rendering), Buster Simpson (Slam Exercise)

Did you enjoy this article?  You might also like these Building Capacity Blog articles: 
Capacity Building Tool for Planners to Achieve Net Zero Water Buildings & Neighborhoods
Living Building Results from a Living Vision
Living Future 2011
Living Building Challenge: Bertschi School’s New Science Wing

Living Future 2011: Delicious

The Mac Lovers among us must have loved Majora Carter's declaration in her keynote that the “USGBC is PC, Living Future is Apple.”  Not sure I agree with the exact analogy but I get what she means. Regrettably I didn’t get to the Cascadia Green Building Council’s Living Future Conference this year, but I learned this pearl second hand from Alistair Jackson, my colleague at O’Brien & Company. Alistair and Kelly Kirkland, also of O’Brien & Company did attend, and when asked to share their highlights came up with more than I can reasonably cover in a single blog…so I will summarize:

Impact: Majora Carter’s keynote focused on local strategies that solve big problems and pay back multiple times.  Her examples included working with the most expensive citizens in our community (the generationally impoverished and veterans of war) – and provide them with the skills to do environmental restoration, climate change adaption and energy retrofit work.  This “conversion” would reduce entitlement budgets, reduce municipal operating budgets and foster self-respect in these generally marginalized populations.  For planners, this amounts to risk reduction. She called it “Hometown Security” rather than Homeland Security. 

In the same vein, Kelly was encouraged by the increasing value place on the contribution construction trades can make to green building. Outside of the formal sessions, she “heard more than ever before about green building training for the construction trades. Some of this training is happening on the job site of projects in progress, and one project even set aside time to build a ‘practice’ building to help trades people learn by doing—so they could do better when it came time to build the real project.”

Connections: In her keynote, Margaret Wheatley encouraged the audience to focus not on “critical mass” but on “critical connections” with others. At most conferences that might seem daunting, but Kelly “found most attendees of LF11 fully present and engaged in looking for ways to advance green building. I met people building the most progressive Living Buildings on the planet, people engaging kids to improve their community, and people with a genuine passion for their work.” Before Kelly even arrived on site, she met presenter Jane Turville on the Amtrak bus ride up to (Vancouver, BC) Canada. Jane is the writer/director/producer of “The Greenest Building” an inspiring case for green renovations of existing (especially historic) buildings, with case studies from around the US. Check out the film’s web site to see some clips: http://www.thegreenestbuildingmovie.com.

The issue of connection was implicit in a presentation on “trust-based” contractual arrangements offered by Turner Construction. Apparently not all of the designers in the room were comfortable with the idea based on their comments, but Alistair appreciated Tony Toppenberg’s (Tony is a Cost Estimator at Turner) discussion of an integrated approach in which the three key parties  (owner, architect, and the builder) share the risk and reward of delivering (or failing to deliver) on project goals.   (More on this subject in a future blog!)

Re-Imagination:  In addition to the novel idea of trust-based contracts (!) Jason Twill (Senior Project Manager for Sustainability) of Vulcan Real Estate discussed how the Living Building Standard forces one to rethink both the ideal building design process and business model for multi-family buildings. In Seattle, at least, it turns out that 4-5 story mid-rise is the maximum for truly achieving Living Building.   While on-site energy is inevitably one of the limits to growth, it turns out that Net Zero water is the greater constraint.  Seattle-based research shows that relying on precipitation alone won’t get you to net zero water (even in Seattle!). That means relying on recycling grey and black water to some degree.  Working outward from this “natural” building constraint, one would need to review thinking about design (integrating the process) regulations (permitting water recycling), economics (valuing water recycling), leasing (moving to gross leases to allow capture of performance savings), and marketing (including building performance transparency and education). Only this, Jason?

For their “15 minutes of Brilliance” presentation, students from Jasper High School read their inspiring, opinion essays about the state of education.  Kelly’s favorite line: “education should be experimental (read experiential) with real consequences.”  Education, no matter the age of the learner, needs to do a better job of making connections between the way we behave and the consequences or impact of that behavior.  It seems obvious from the takeaways shared by Alistair and Kelly, that Living Future did a good job modeling that.

Alistair Jackson, LEED AP for Homes, CSBA is Principal and part owner of O’Brien & Company, and is responsible for the company’s residential technical services team (including the LEED for Homes providership). Kelly, LEED AP for O+M, CSBA is Project Associate for O’Brien & Company and the firm’s marketing and educational services coordinator. She presented at Living Future 2011, on Washington Green Schools, and has produced several green building curricula for construction trades.

Did you enjoy this article?  You might also like these Building Capacity Blog articles: 
Living Building Challenge: Bertschi School’s New Science Wing
Living Building Results from a Living Vision
Envisioning a Net-Zero Water Future
Living Future: Life in the Solution

Capacity Building Tool for Planners hoping to achieve Net Zero Water Buildings and Neighborhoods Marks World Water Day

Although the energy crisis has long held our attention in the green building world, the global water crisis urgently needs our attention. That’s because we can do a lot to reduce the consumption of water, and in particular, potable water, in the way we design our buildings and neighborhoods. To celebrate World Water Day, and its 2011 focus on urban water systems, our friends at the Cascadia Green Building Council (CGBC) have released “Toward Net Zero Water: Best Management Practices for Decentralized Sourcing and Treatment.”

The authors, Katie Spataro and Joel Sisolak, Cascadia’s Research Director and Advocacy and Outreach Director, respectively, have produced what I predict will be a significant capacity building tool for communities hoping to achieve net zero water at the building and neighborhood scale. The report contains an overview of best practices and technologies for decentralized and distributed water systems, with special focus placed on rainwater harvesting, greywater reclamation and reuse, and on-site wastewater treatment for reuse – the systems that face the highest hurdles when it comes to permitting them. (Presumably it is for this reason the manual does not address on-site stormwater management systems and fixture efficiencies, both of which do contribute to net zero water schemes, but also enjoy greater regulatory acceptance in the past few years. There are also plenty of resources out there  on these topics, including one O'Brien & Company helped develop: “The Low Impact Development (LID) Guidance Manual  for Kitsap County".)

Each BMP chapter describes major system components, how the systems work, and background on appropriate scale and efficiency. Design considerations are provided for system sizing, location, and integration with other building systems. And, because case studies can be very compelling, there are several demonstrating the best practices covered. The manual is more of a planning tool then a design tool; for each system, resources are provided to find more in-depth technical details.

Katie and Joel have done their homework and made it easy for us. Though there is a tremendous amount of information on these systems out there, it isn’t easy to access in a methodical, efficient manner. They’ve sifted through it all, gleaned the credible data, and organized it in a way that is useful. No fear, this is not a “cheerleading” document, but you also don’t have to be an engineer to “get it.”

The Living Building Challenge’s net zero water imperative requires “closed-loop” water systems, and that is the focus of the manual. Mark Buehrer, of 2020 Engineering, and a peer reviewer for the study has long held that closed-loop water designs are “critical for net zero water buildings.” I concur. Similar to the low impact development approach to stormwater, decentralized on-site closed-water systems can mimic nature better. Because they are more site-appropriate, they will be diverse, but the overall approach of these small-scale systems remain the same: begin with super-efficient measures to reduce overall water demand, and then treat the water needed for potable and non-potable uses.

When faced with the facts that many cities around the country are anticipating water shortages; that the cost of replacing our steadily degrading water and wastewater infrastructure is huge; and that the money (and political will) to invest in centralized infrastructure is dwindling, it only makes sense to stop using potable water for uses that don’t require it, and to find more agile and effective ways to supply and treat our water.

Building Capacity Blog is edited by Kathleen O’Brien, a Cascadia Fellow, and President of O’Brien & Company, a green building consultancy, founded nearly 20 years ago, and located in Seattle, Washington, providing services in green project consulting, sustainability policies, plans, and programs, and education. Sisolak and Spataro are among the line-up of presenters at this year’s Living Future (April 27-29 in Vancouver, BC). Their session, “Getting to Net Zero,” digs into the elements of the Living Building Challenge water petal and regulatory challenges impeding the progress of net-zero water projects. Cover image courtesy of Cascadia Green Building Council.

Did you enjoy this article?  You might also like these Building Capacity Blog articles: 
Envisioning a Net-Zero Water Future
Interview with Schacht Aslani Architects’ Walter Schacht
Interview with Kitsap Home Builders Foundation’s Art Castle