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Winter winds are blowing through the girders and rafters rising from a construction site at East 14th Street and Court Avenue, but when the building is finished in October, it will be a model of energy efficiency.

The building will house the Iowa Utilities Board and Office of Consumer Advocate. Nearly 100 people will oversee issues related to the delivery of energy in a two-story, 44,000-square-foot structure designed to gain the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification, the organization’s top rating.

It is estimated that the use of geothermal heating and cooling, maximum use of natural daylight to reduce electric lighting needs, and a tight building envelope of insulated precast concrete and metal panels will result in an overall energy savings of about 63 percent compared with a conventional office building. The building will reduce its electric demands by the use of photovoltaic cells mounted on the roof.

A fact sheet compiled by the building’s designer, Kansas City, Mo.-based Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell Architects of Kansas City, Mo., and Des Moines, places annual energy costs at $19,900, compared with $56,125 for a typical office building of similar size.

Additional design and construction elements that should add up to the Platinum certification include cutting water use, containing and filtering 100 percent of storm water runoff, diverting 75 percent of construction waste from landfills and using materials that are recycled, contain certified woods and have a high degree of local content.

A vertical axis wind turbine could be installed.

J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc. of Janesville, Wis., is the general contractor on the $9.8 million project, which got under way in September.

Chuck Steel, customer service manager for the utilities board, said that because both agencies are funded by fees and assessments on regulated utilities, no tax dollars are being used on the project.

During construction, utility board and consumer advocate staff members are working out of leased offices.

“Aside from getting our agencies out of rented space, one of the expectations is that the building will serve as a model for local governments as to how to build high-efficiency office space on a smaller scale,” Steel said in an e-mail. “There will be a public education component for several segments – local government, architects, developers, contractors and the general public.”