Location
Rochester | NY
Facility Type
Community Center
ECO-POWR™
Products
21
Facility Size
9,000 sq. ft.
(836 sq. m)
2018
Energy Production
3,660 kWh*
A better, more sustainable community
With a dream of giving back to a community they loved, Mike and Wendy Nolan created I-Square, a green, environmentally-responsible and energy-efficient mixed used development project. The project includes restaurants, gardens, outdoor amphitheaters, office spaces and the Art and Science Imaginarium.
The Imaginarium is a net-zero building that uses art and technology to engage visitors and demonstrate the alternative ways in which communities can develop and benefit from sustainable practices and renewable energy resources.
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THE IMAGINARIUM WAS BUILT AS A UNIQUE SPACE TO CREATIVELY SHOWCASE AND PROMOTE
EARTH-FRIENDLY PRACTICES IN ORDER TO POSITIVELY DEMONSTRATE FORWARD THINKING AND
ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT AS WELL AS EDUCATE OUR
VISITORS ON THE TECHNOLOGY AND BENEFITS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES.
Imaginarium Mission Statement
Running on renewable energy
As a net-zero building, the Imaginarium produces as much or more energy than it consumes over the course of a year. To accomplish energy neutrality, I-Square’s developers used energy efficient ways to construct the facility such as insulating foam, LED lights, a gravity fed elevator, and renewable energy generating projects.
In order to produce the energy needed for the 9,000 sq. ft. building the Imaginarium has two small wind turbines with a power rating of 8.9kw, 92 solar panels which produce the bulk of their electricity, and 21 energy producing pieces of exercise equipment which turns visitor’s energy into clean usable electricity.
The net-zero connection
New visitors to the Imaginarium are offered tours of the net-zero building and are shown the different spaces and their green initiatives from vertical gardens to wind turbines. It isn’t until they arrive in the eco gym that guests truly grasp their individual contribution and connect to their personal energy usage.
Being able to put in hard work and see the real-time energy production impact provides a layer of meaningfulness to breaking a sweat and is bringing a new understanding to how small changes or shifts in everyday activities can be a part of a larger movement.
IT IS JUST AN EXTRA BENEFIT. IT’S A VERY VISUAL WAY PEOPLE CAN SEE, WHEN THEY’RE AT THE IMAGINARIUM,
HOW WHAT THEY DO AND ACTIONS THEY TAKE CONTRIBUTE THE POWER CONSUMPTION OF THE BUILDING.
Diane Zaccarine
I-Square in the media
*Potential energy production statistic based on I-Square’s internal estimation of bike usage and average user energy production.
