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The Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. COLUMBUS, Ohio - More than 400 Ohio 4-H staff, youth and volunteers, partners and dignitaries gathered Friday to celebrate the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, Ohio State University’s first building designed under green standards.

“I’ve never seen so much green in my life,” Ohio State University President Gordon Gee said, noting the color as not only that of 4-H, but as “the sustainability color of the university.”

The 46,000-square-foot facility features a geothermal cooling and heating system, low-flow sink faucets, adjusted-per-use toilets, waterless urinals, recycled girders and wall studs, motion-sensor lights and much more in an effort focusing on an economic-friendly design that should save tens of thousands of dollars in annual utility savings over conventionally designed buildings.

“Generations of Ohioans have been enriched immeasurably by 4-H programs, and this new environmentally responsible facility extends those educational programs in a way that makes sense for our future,” Gee said.

Ohio Farm Bureau Executive Vice President Jack Fisher extended his thanks to Ohio’s county Farm Bureaus for their support of 4-H at the event. “Every county Farm Bureau contributed to this effort and several went above and beyond in contributions to make this building possible,” he said.

Read more about the building and ceremony in the April 17 edition of Buckeye Farm News