1-Sep-09 11:00 AM CST

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo hopes to have its new "African Elephant Crossing" area, scheduled to open in 2011, certified as the nation's largest green exhibit for animals

When Cleveland's trio of elephants return home in June 2011 after a three-year Columbus Zoo vacation, they will move into what could be the nation's largest green-certified animal exhibit.

"No one thought it could be done -- build an animal building up to the highest green standards -- but we're doing it," said Dick Chodera, project manager for RFC Contracting Inc., a Strongsville firm advising the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo on the project.

Zoos in Philadelphia, Seattle and New York have green-certified buildings, but for birds, small animals, or in the case of the Bronx Zoo, lions, officials for the U.S. Green Building Council and Association of Zoos and Aquariums said.

Cleveland zoo officials have been talking up their $25 million "African Elephant Crossing" for more than a year.

The cornerstone of green efforts is the planned recycling of water in a 26-foot-deep pool being dug at the exhibit site.

Recycling is expected to cut water consumption from about 26 million gallons a year to 7.5 million gallons.

"We may only dump these pools once a year because of the recycling system," zoo Executive Director Steve Taylor said.

About a third of the construction material is recycled and more than 90 percent of all waste is going to recycling firms rather than to landfills, zoo officials said.

The new elephant exhibit wasn't initially planned as eco-friendly. But when the Cleveland Zoological Society secured a $1 million grant from the Gund Foundation, $800,000 of it was given on the condition that the project meet sustainable standards. So, the plan turned greener.

"We were actually already 60 percent of the way through the design when we took on this challenge to try to get certified," Chodera said. "Now everyone on this job is trying to find new ways to meet different LEED standards for green building."