Betty Alpaugh (Florida House Learning Center)

We believe this project was the first in the nation to use the demonstration technique to educate the public about sustainability. In response to a severe drought and proposed building moratorium in 1990, the Florida House Learning Center was initially envisioned by the Sarasota County Extension Service to teach citizens about water conservation, but was expanded to include other sustainability principles such as energy efficiency, recycled products, least-toxic building materials and durability. The Learning Center evolved into a community effort and a unique public/private partnership involving donations by hundreds of organizations, businesses, government agencies, and individuals.Â

Opening to the public on Earth Day in 1994, this model home and landscape teaches citizens that landscape elements and building materials that are environmentally friendly can also be attractive---both aesthetically and economically. In addition to its educational mission, the project also seeks to stimulate market demand for "green" products and methods, so everything featured is readily available off-the-shelf.

The house is a modern "Florida Cracker" style with 2,375 square feet of indoor-outdoor living space, including screened porches, and features numerous water and energy-conserving designs and devices, as well as building materials with recycled content. Energy Star® appliances and such renewable resources as Bamboo and Cork flooring are highlighted, along with recycled plastic carpet and ceramic tiles made from recycled auto windshields.

The "Model Florida Yard" demonstrates xeriscaping; micro-irrigation; composting; edible landscaping; reduced use of pesticides, fertilizers, water and energy; reduction of detrimental stormwater run-off; and two 2,500-gallon cisterns which collect rainwater for use in irrigation.

The Learning Center also utilizes extensive educational signage, an environmental library and over 100 University of Florida publications. Rounding out the project are weekly educational programs and group tours for children and adults.

Serving as a focal point for citizen interest in sustainability for nearly twelve years, the Learning Center continues to attract over 10,000 visitors a year from every part of the state, nation, and the world. It has also helped to incubate similar projects in Louisiana, Utah, and South Carolina, and received delegations from as far away as Egypt and Jordan.

By demonstrating positive, real life, economic solutions to environmental dilemmas, the Learning Center has stimulated the marketplace in a number of tangible ways, for instance, the creation of an Environmental Award category in the annual Homebuilder's Parade of Homes. Where once there were none, Sarasota now boasts a number of builders and developers who have committed to achieving certification by the Florida Green Building Coalition, and scores of new homes embodying Florida House concepts have been built.

Perhaps our most significant achievements are in the areas of individual knowledge gains and practice changes by citizens. Annual surveys of previous year's visitors reveal that an average of 81% of respondents make positive changes in their lifestyles or practices as a result of their visit, and fully 65% redesign their landscapes within the first year! Weekly educational programs measure a 37% average knowledge gain, and Children's Resource Conservation Tours demonstrate an average improvement of 39 percentage points from pre-visit to post-visit test scores.

Media response to the Florida House has far exceeded expectations, with more than 12,000 column inches of national and local media coverage over the years, including appearances in college textbooks, Better Homes and Gardens and on CNN's "Earth Matters" program, as well as numerous local and regional television programs such as the 2004 premiere episode of A Gulf Coast Journal on WEDU-TV Channel 3.

The current and most direct beneficiaries of this program are the citizens who visit the Florida House and then implement what they learned in their own homes and yards, and many visitors become ambassadors for these concepts, helping to educate their families, friends, and neighbors. Their communities, whether in Michigan, Maine, Mississippi or Montana, all benefit directly in meaningful and measurable ways from whatever lifestyle and practice changes are made to conserve resources, reduce waste and maintain a healthier environment.

Year after year, citizens are telling us that their visit has "made a difference"---not only in their ecological awareness and values, but also in their lifestyles and how they interact with their environment. Of course, the most significant beneficiaries may be the future generations who will inherit and inhabit the world that we are creating today by the choices we make.

Betty Alpaugh

February 13, 2006