Our Sustainable Prototype progressed extensively during week nine.  Once we finished laying out, centering, and placing our Con-Tech light housings between roof joists, we immediately began hanging drywall on the ceiling.  This allowed us to start spraying insulation into the roof joist cavities.  Insulation for the walls was sprayed in as well, leaving only the hanging of drywall, followed by painting and finishing to complete the interior wall system.  Cutting the skylights into the drywall made the interior of the building take form.  We also began the application of the first layer of our exterior skin: wood siding.  This beautiful Douglas Fir lumber was once used as roof decking on a magazine building at the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. 

Product shipments this week included insulation and Ikea cabinetry.  Central Fiber Corporation, in conjunction with Comfort Solutions, supplied us with cellulose insulation and helped us learn how to use an insulation blower, as well as other specialized machinery, to both wet pack our walls and dry pack our ceilings.  Newsprint is recycled and formed into insulation, which reduces the amount of newspaper that would end up in a landfill.  Using this product, along with the reclaimed lumber from Sunflower, helps us achieve two LEED credits for recycled content, in which 20% of our combined materials cost must be designated for materials that once had a prior use.

Greensburg Art Center’s Board made a visit to Studio 804’s warehouse this week, seeing the project and observing our process for the first time.  We had been looking forward to their arrival and are glad they were able to travel here to witness our construction and learning environment.