Refuge Sustainability
Infrastructure and Sustainability
Mission:Wolf has constructed a 3 acre solar-powered ecovillage with volunteer labor and recycled building materials.
Phase 1: 80% Complete
The first phase of our ecovillage was the construction of multiple buildings, including a solar-powered office, kitchen, and most recently a $1.4M visitor center, vet facility, mechanic shop.
Our next step is to expand our staff sleeping area above our community kitchen as well as a covered and heated area for processing wolf food. These spaces will make a huge difference in keeping our staff warm during the winter!
If you would like to support our refuge you can click the link below.
Ecovillage Overview
Sustainability is at the heart of our mission as an organization. You can learn more about our sustainability initiatives and three-acre ecovillage below.
Solar Power
Due to the remote location of the refuge, we are completely off the power grid and self-sufficient for our power needs. Solar energy provides a convenient, economical, environmentally-friendly way of meeting our needs for electricity. Our computers, power tools, water pumps (and much more) operate from a solar-powered system.
Excess power generated during the day is stored in battery banks, and can then be inverted to light the buildings during the night. We have one large bank of solar panels and batteries that provides electricity to our community kitchen, office, and tool shop and another that runs our state-of-the-art visitor center, Jane’s Studio. Our vet building, visitor center, and two living cabins each have their own self-contained solar and battery systems. Our water well is connected directly to its own solar panel, and as long as there is sunlight, it is pumping a steady flow of water up to two large holding tanks behind the kitchen.
One of our three main solar arrays for the upper refuge.
Our newest solar array provides 8x the power of a 2012 array of the same size. The growth in solar power has been amazing!
Photo courtesy of Shevaun Williams
Passive Solar Heating
Most of the buildings at Mission:Wolf are designed and constructed to take advantage of Colorado’s sunny days. Passive heating systems make use of naturally available heat sources (like the sun) to keep a building warm, without the need for stoves or other heating devices. All of the buildings at Mission:Wolf are designed with large, south-facing windows, so the sunlight can keep us warm during the day — the same way the interior of a car left in the sunlight will get warm, even on a cold day. The buildings are also well-insulated and dug into the hillside so that the north walls are earth-bermed, helping to retain much of the heat gathered from the sun, and greatly reducing the amount of firewood burned to stay warm in winter.
We work to create sustainable structures by using locally available recycled materials to maximize passive solar heat. By adapting construction techniques to use sustainable materials, and integrating the unique design combinations of sizes and locations of doors, windows, walls, and roof overhangs, the structures work to gather the most solar heat possible.
Greenhouses
Gardens reduce our dependency on local grocery stores, while providing a habitat for multiple species and fresh food and herbs for staff. At an altitude of 9,300 feet, growing food outside has always been a challenge for our community. With the addition of our two greenhouses, we are now able to grow food year-round.
Our two geodesic growing domes, courtesy of Growing Spaces (Pagosa Springs, CO), have enabled us to grow food throughout the winter, on rocky terrain in an ever-changing climate using near-net-zero technology. The domes remain warm in the winter and cool in the summer by utilizing many passive energy sources. Since water has a higher heat-capacity than air, each greenhouse contains a large above-ground pond, which absorbs heat during the day and releases it back into the air again as temperatures cool at night. A subterranean air circulation system and automatic window vents also help to maintain consistent temperatures and an ideal growing environment. With a focus on establishing perennial polycultures, we are creating ecological gardens that benefit both people and wildlife
The inside of one of our geodesic dome greenhouses, where we can grow kale and veggies through the winter at 9.5Kft!
Land Conservation
Habitat loss is a crucial contributor to global warming and to species loss.
Mission:Wolf is currently a third of the way to our goal of conserving 1,000 acres of pristine subalpine habitat surrounding our 50 acre wolf sanctuary. We have 400 acres conserved with an intent to purchase more s in the next years. This plan has become more urgent as we begin to see sprawl from the Denver metro area spreading even to our remote region. You can learn more about our wild land conservation project here.
Recycled Building Materials
Mission: Wolf is built almost entirely from recycled building materials. These materials have helped us to cut building costs to 50-75% of market value. Since the late 1980s, our supporters have been donating building supplies to help us improve our facility. We accept donations of metal, wood, fencing, plumbing and electrical supplies, tools, stone and brick, windows, roofing, fasteners, and everything in between.
For more information on building with recycled materials or deconstructing old buildings:
• Boulder, CO: Resource Yard (formerly Resource 2000)
• Online building material classifieds: Planet Reuse
• Craigslist: The materials, free, tools, and farm & garden sections are all great places to find building materials and supplies.
Tipis And Geodesic Domes
Waking up in a tipi to wolf howls is a quintessential Mission: Wolf experience. Since 1986, our volunteers have lived year-round in tipis, enjoying a close connection with the world around them. More recently we have invested in geodesic domes for greenhouses and staff housing. These structures are affordable with a minimal environmental footprint. They are cool in summer and can be heated with wood stoves in winter. They are moveable and don’t leave a permanent impact like building foundations do. You can set them up on flat earth, or build a deck or floor. The tipi floors at Mission: Wolf are made of either flagstone or wood.
Our 380 square foot community tipi with a flagstone floor is open for the public to use year-round. We ask a $20 donation per person ($100 per group over 5) to spend a night in the tipi. It’s a community affair, and all space is first-come, first-served. You may find yourself sharing the tipi with several other people.
If you are interested in purchasing a tipi, we recommend Nomadics Tipi Makers and Colorado Yurt Company.