CASSOPOLIS — Edward Lowe Foundation’s treetops Tower of Tomorrow is a $3 million retreat center two years in the making, constructed from homegrown timber and stone at Big Rock Valley in Penn Township in central Cass County.

The foundation broke ground in July 2008 and served as general contractor on the two-story, 10,600-square-foot building designed by Diekema Hamann Architecture of Kalamazoo.

Nestled into a wooded site on a steep slope overlooking four spring-fed ponds, its shallow, single-pitch roofs minimize the building’s height from the front.

Yet, inside, large windows along the rear provide panoramic views.

The new facility, shown off Wednesday evening at an open house hosted by decorator Darlene Lowe, features a lobby, large meeting room, dining room with a commercial kitchen, an elevator, decks wrapped around the exterior and a variety of areas for small-group discussions.

Although subcontractors did most of the construction, foundation employees helped throughout the process, especially with landscaping and trim and finish work on the facility, which faces existing conference facilities in Billieville.

The Tower of Tomorrow honors one of the Kitty Litter founder’s dreams of a high-rise headquarters.

Though not apparent from its entrance, the building resembles a tower when seen from behind from the bottom of the hill — although the tree curtain remains so thick it obscures the gleaming edifice at that angle.

The foundation used more than 200 tons of stone from its property for retaining walls and landscaping and an additional 65 tons of native stone in columns and fireplaces.

The foundation also harvested approximately 80,000 board feet of lumber from trees on its property for the building, including about 20 trees from the actual construction site.

The Tower of Tomorrow is essentially constructed of four timber types — tulip poplar (ceilings), ash (box beams on the upper-level ceiling), maple (grooved wood paneling; and walnut (trim).

The green building has window frames made from recycled aluminum.

More than 15,000 feet of plastic tubing was installed in a nearby pond for heat exchange in the building’s geothermal heating and cooling system.

Because of the foundation’s priority of environmental stewardship, the Tower of Tomorrow follows Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines, an internationally-recognized green-building certification system.

Certification can take up to a year after final construction, so the building’s level of certification is not yet known.

Aspects that make it eligible for LEED certification include:

• Lots of windows drawing in natural light.

• Recycled products. For example, stair treads, from which visitors can admire Ed’s collection of levels, came from an old train depot in Cairo, Ill.

• Materials and products manufactured within a 500-mile radius of the property.

• Paints, caulks and adhesives with low VOC (volatile organic compound) contents.

• A geothermal heating and cooling system that uses a nearby pond for heat transfer.

• High-quality insulation and an elaborate control system for lighting, heating and cooling to minimize energy usage.

The entire Billieville complex is served by Wi-Fi. Two T1 lines feed the main compound. Then fiber optic cables distribute data around the property.

The Tower of Tomorrow has a modern audiovisual system with overhead projectors in the meeting room and dining room and a 65-inch flat panel LCD monitor in the lobby.

In addition, the building is equipped with a cell phone booster to improve reception.

Occupancy sensors automatically turn lights on and off.

The Tower of Tomorrow accommodates groups of 60 people for meetings and indoor meals.

An area on the southwest deck can seat 30 people for outdoor dining.

Due to its non-profit charter, the foundation adheres to guidelines on what type of groups it can host.

Typically this includes non-profit groups with similar missions in entrepreneurship or environmental stewardship, local governmental agencies and learning institutions.

Big Rock Valley began as a 160-acre parcel Ed Lowe bought in 1964.

Today, it encompasses 2,600 acres of diverse landscapes, including 750 of woodlands, 850 of croplands, 350 of prairies and meadows, 550 of wetlands and 100 of roads and building sites.

In 2001, the foundation began to develop a formal inventory of species at Big Rock Valley, beginning with reptiles and amphibians and expanding in recent years to encompass birds and plants.

There are more than 700 plant species documented, more than 200 bird species and more than 25 reptile and amphibian species.

Big Rock Valley is home to many species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern, including the cerulean warbler, spotted turtle, Blanding’s turtle, Eastern box turtle, golden seal, ginseng, showy lady slipper orchid, Massasauga rattlesnake, black rat snake and cut-leaved water parsnip.

Woodland-management practices focus on diversity, long-term health and sustainability, including managing for old-growth forest.

Demonstration plots have been created to compare these practices and to gather data.

The foundation has established regeneration stands for certain woodland species, such as aspen and oak; re-established native tall grass prairies and savannas; prescribed burning, which stimulates growth of native plants and helps control natural succession; cropland management, such as no-till cultivation practices that can increase water in the soil and decrease erosion; hay management practices that limit the time tenant farmers spend in fields to minimize impact on wildlife and leave them with more food and shelter; establishing and maintaining vernal ponds to provide a safe haven for amphibians to reproduce; managing for overstocked and invasive species that can cause imbalances in habitats; and leaving winter food plots for wildlife, including sunflowers, corn, alfalfa and clover.

Big Rock Valley contains more than 70 facilities, including a fitness center for guests and staff, an ecolab for researchers and an information center.

Open to the public, the information center at 58220 Decatur Road houses historical exhibits of Ed Lowe’s many business ventures and entrepreneurship initiatives, including an overview of the foundation.

The foundation maintains 10 renovated farmhouses, such as the Barn House, that serve as quarters for overnight guests. Many of these structures date back to the 1830s.

Though equipped with modern conveniences, much of these buildings’ original work has been preserved.

Five retired railroad boxcars provide additional guest housing. Each features two bedrooms, a large bathroom and a sitting area.

These cars have their original floors, while new tongue-and-groove paneled interiors were built with wood also harvested from Big Rock Valley.

Kitty Litter was a simple product that spawned a new industry.

Born in 1920 in St. Paul, Minn., Lowe grew up in Cass County.

After serving in the Navy, he joined his dad’s company selling various commodities, including industrial absorbents.

Among these was a type of clay pellet made from fuller’s earth.

In 1947, Lowe saw opportunity when a neighbor asked him for some sand to use in her cat’s litter box. Because of the cold weather, the woman had brought her pet indoors — a rare privilege at the time. Ashes she had been using had the drawback of leaving sooty paw prints about the house.

Lowe substituted fuller’s earth pellets for sand and with rave reviews began marketing the material as Kitty Litter at cat shows and pet shops.

By the time he sold Edward Lowe Industries in 1990, the company had grown to more than 500 employees and $165 million in annual sales.

Lowe secured more than 170 patents, trademarks and copyrights for products and services during his lifetime.

Today, the foundation provides research, recognition and educational programs to help both second-stage companies and the organizations that support these entrepreneurs.

The foundation defines second-stage growth entrepreneurs as having 10 to 99 employees and annual revenue ranging from $1 million to $50 million.

From 2007 to 2009 the foundation interacted with more than 180 communities in 41 states.