Healing Ground, Living Values: Stanley Center for Peace and Security

The eleventh book in the Living Building Challenge Series, Healing Ground, Living Values details the story of the Stanley Center for Peace and Security and of the enterprising people and city that helped make it what it is today. Headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa, the Stanley Center is a non-profit foundation devoted to facilitating a wide range of policy changes and governance practices that address global challenges tied to mitigating climate change, preventing nuclear weapon use, and ending mass violence and atrocities. 

The Stanley Center, with its compelling work, has held a prominent place on both the world stage and within its hometown since its founding in 1956. But until now, it has not had a headquarters that physically and spiritually embodied its core values. This book details how the Stanley Center organization and its design partners – beginning with Neumann Monson Architects – went about the arduous and unique challenge of adapting a 1970s-era public library building into a fully regenerative and accessible corporate headquarters. It further documents how the integrated project team approached various logistical and design challenges related to site ecology and hydrology, urban agriculture, embodied emissions, equity and inclusion, and other critical considerations en route to realizing this future Living Building in America’s heartland.

Justin R. Wolf also explores the rich and complex history of the City of Muscatine, from pre-settlement up to the present day. This unassuming town on the banks of the Mississippi is in fact, a place of great historical consequence, having played a decisive role in advancing progress in industrial manufacturing, engineering, civil rights, social justice, philanthropy, and much more. Healing Ground, Living Values is a story of design innovation and sustainability best practices. More so, it is a book about healing the physical and spiritual wounds inflicted upon the land and the Indigenous peoples who nurtured it for centuries prior to the arrival of American settlers. Lastly, it is an examination of what is possible when creative and conscientious minds come together to produce a regenerative building that gives more than it takes.

Topics Included: 

• Regenerative Architecture
• Living Building Challenge
• Just Organization
• Biophilic Design
• Adaptive Reuse
• Embodied & Operational Carbon
• Net Positive Energy 
• Renewable Energy
• Equitable Sourcing
• Urban Agriculture
• Employee Safety, Health & Wellness
• Mississippi River
• Red List/Healthy Materials
• Salvaged/Upcycled Materials
• Passive Design
• Water Treatment & Site Hydrology
• Handprinting
• Community Engagement