Forty percent of all of the world's materials and energy resources are used by buildings, according to Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit research organization that focuses on global environmental issues.

That figure could be drastically reduced, according to local advocates, by the use of energy-efficient technologies, such as premium efficiency motors and lights that respond to daylight, environmentally friendly materials and an educated public. One solution for Indianapolis could be Ecology House.

In 1993, three environmentally conscious citizens came up with the idea for Ecology House: Ed Cohen, a longtime environmental activist who works at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management; Kristi Seastrom , a businesswoman whose family's property had been threatened by a major air polluter in town; and Gary Davis, owner of Davis Paper & Plastics, a local recycling company.

"None of these folks are building professionals. There were no architects -- just normal people in the community who saw a need and wanted to make it happen," said architect Sam F. Miller, president of the board of Ecology House since 1998.

In addition to Davis and Miller, Y-Press interviewed board members Linda Vines Bright , an education consultant, and Liz Coles, an interior design professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Ecology House now has eight board members, 15 advisers and dozens of volunteers. Since they started meeting seven years ago, they have created a plan for an ecologically sound building that would be open to the public. In late summer, the nonprofit organization submitted a proposal to city officials to obtain an existing building to renovate.

"Ecology House doesn't exist as a project or property here in town yet. We think we're getting close to that point," said Davis. "We've always known that we want to be in the center part of Indianapolis, and we've pretty well stuck to that," he said.

The property that they hope to transform into Ecology House is an old church that's been abandoned for a few years.

"It has three floors," Davis said. "We're proposing to use part of that for meeting space for groups here in town, part of it for research.

"Our preference at the beginning is to renovate an existing building, to take advantage of the energy that's already in the structure. And that is more sensible environmentally than building new," Miller added.

Once the property is secured, it will take one to two years to complete the project.

Ecology House, like other ecologically friendly model houses in the United States, will not be just a house to drive by but a house to visit.

"It's going to be a house that is renovated in a very ecological manner. But it will also act as a learning laboratory for other communities within the neighborhood about sustainable design and sustainable living," Coles said.

Ecology House will be for everyone: Homeowners can learn how to change their homes to make them more environmentally sound, schoolchildren will be educated in what they can do to help conserve resources and older students will do community outreach to bring "green" living concepts to older residences.

Besides educating people, Ecology House also will be a full-time showroom for businesses to display their products and practices. "There are a lot of companies here in central Indiana and the Midwest that manufacture products that will be of interest to us and to those who visit Ecology House," Davis said.

Ecology House is needed because more efficient energy practices will result in fewer resources used and lower energy costs.

While this information is available now, the facts aren't always being applied to people's daily lives.

"One of the main reasons that we need it is that many, many people are ignorant of the information that we already have available regarding the effect of our environment on health and intellectual capacity development," said Bright, the educational consultant.

Miller explained that Ecology House will have an open feel to it, but the rooms will be divided so that each could be closed off so that the air-handling systems can be shut off to conserve energy.

Ecology House also will use natural materials, energy-efficient appliances and water-conservation devices.

At Ecology House, there will be environmentally friendly things going on outside as well.

The site is a very important part of the house, Miller said. Only native plants will be used, ranging from the grass in the yard to the flowers next to the house.

Ecology House faces some challenges, including the cost of some of the technologies used in the house.

Another challenge for Ecology House is to get people to pay more attention to the environment.

"Ecology or conservation or the environment, at this particular time, is not a primary interest of many individuals or organizations," Bright said.

"It's always difficult when you're talking about people changing habits," she continued. "We're a crisis-driven society, and until something falls down around our ears, we don't really give it much attention."

Miller said while not every building can have the efficiency of Ecology House, homeowners can take steps toward that goal. These include planting trees in the right position around the house so it's shaded in the summer and blocked from the wind in the winter, insulating the house, placing the house so it faces the sun, and putting attic fans in.

The Ecology House board members are optimistic that the public eventually will adopt ecologically friendly practices.

"My theory is that most of us are environmentalists," Davis said. "Even if the company that we work at pollutes, we still like to go home to a place that looks beautiful, has trees, has a lovely pastoral environment. You know, all these neighborhoods around town that have been built in the last 20 years have these dreamlike names to them like Village Stream."

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Jordan Walerstein, 16, and Megan Minkner, 15.