Media Relations
Press Release:
MEDIA
CONTACT:
Marc
Kozlin
561-297-1399, mkozlin1@fau.edu
FAU College of Engineering and
Computer Science Dedicates its New Green Building
BOCA
RATON, FL (November 5, 2010)
–
Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and
Computer Science dedicated its new facility today, at FAU’s
Boca Raton campus. The innovative, 97,000-square-foot,
living-learning laboratory is the first newly constructed academic
building in southeast Florida to be designed and built to U.S.
Green Building Council LEED® (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) Platinum level standards – the highest
level in the Green Building Rating System™.
“This living-learning laboratory and showcase for green
practices and technologies provides a strong foundation for our
College’s broad educational and research efforts to advance
the principles of sustainability through the multiple communities
we serve,” said Karl K. Stevens, Ph.D., dean of the College
of Engineering and Computer Science.
Along with Stevens, also participating in the dedication were FAU
President Mary Jane Saunders; Dennis Crudele, senior vice president
for financial affairs at FAU; and State Senator Jeremy Ring.
The high-performance facility will place FAU, the College, as well
as its surrounding communities at the national forefront of energy
conservation and environmental stewardship efforts while acting as
a catalyst for the creation of more sustainable
infrastructures.
The
dynamic space includes classrooms, teaching labs, meeting rooms,
study and workstations, reading lounges, food service venues and
recreational/entertainment areas.
The building will serve as an important showcase for
“green” buildings, system design strategies and
sustainable building management practices. “Engineering on
display” is visible throughout the building by way of
touch-screen components allowing access to real-time data collected
by sensors and online systems, which will be infused into
sustainability research projects and courses offered within the
College.
Construction waste from the project was recycled, and renewable
building products and materials were purchased and/or used from
within a 500-mile radius of the Boca Raton campus. Building
features that assisted in Platinum certification include a server
room where waste heat is captured to control water temperatures for
the chilled beam system; high-efficiency lighting systems partnered
with solar hot water heating and a 54 KW photovoltaic array; highly
reflective “cool roofs” which reduce solar heat gain to
the building’s interior, reducing cooling requirements; and a
roof garden, exhibiting native plants irrigated with condensation
collected into a cistern from the air conditioning system.
An appropriation of $43 million from the state’s Public
Education Capital Outlay (PECO) program funded the facility. In
addition, a $50,000 planning grant for sustainable design was
received from The Kresge Foundation Green Building Initiative
Leo A. Daly was the architect for the project, and construction was
handled by James A. Cummings, Inc., a Perini Corporation.
For more information, contact Marc Kozlin at 561-297-1399 or
mkozlin1@fau.edu
.
-FAU-
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses and sites. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering & Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. For more information, visit www.fau.edu .
