In bedroom community, birth of a tech center

A canopy of solar cells, a nearly classroom-free academic center, cafes open to the public and even a hotel. The new campus of the Cornell University graduate school for technology is expected to transform Roosevelt Island from a sleepy bedroom community into a high-technology hothouse, and indeed, the plans to be formally unveiled for the campus bear little resemblance to anything that is there now, reports the New York Times. The campus, at the southern end of Roosevelt Island, is to be built in two phases. The first phase, the bulk of which consists of a low-slung academic hub and a taller residential building just south of the Queensboro Bridge, has a projected opening in 2017…

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Rutgers moves forward with $295M development to keep pace with enrollment

Rutgers could receive more construction funds if a bond issue passes in November.

Rutgers University officials are set to build an expansive academic building with 2,000 extra classroom seats, an 800-bed student housing facility, and a residential honors college for 500 of the school’s best students as the campus becomes the latest to fund construction in a public-private partnership.

The university’s Board of Governors and Board of Trustees agreed to allow administration officials to start formal negotiations with the New Brunswick Development Corp., which will help fund the massive $295 million construction and renovation project.

The proposed project would include a 150,000-square-foot academic building; a residential honors college; an 800-bed student residence hall with street-level retail shopping and dining, and a new campus parking deck off George Street.…Read More

Anatomy of a campus construction project

UA has spent more than $600 million on construction projects since 1999.

The days of bond-funded campus buildings and two-dimensional architectural drawings are drawing to a close at many public universities. The money, for now, is available through public-private partnerships, and plans are made in three dimensions, making for an easier sell to top decision makers.

Campus construction, particularly residence halls, starts with projections meant to keep a college or university years—sometimes decades—ahead of student demand. Those projections, once passed along the campus’s chain of command, tell the mathematical story: We’ll need more dorms, or we won’t.

That’s how it started at the University of Akron (UA), a 220-acre campus with 29,000 students.…Read More

Green projects used as recruitment tools in higher ed

EIU will save $140 million over the next two decades.

An environmentally unfriendly coal-burning plant on the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) campus was once a deterrent for prospective students. Closing the facility and launching a massive bio-energy initiative has proved a recruitment boon for the university.

EIU decision makers committed last fall to building a Renewable Energy Center, one of the largest university biomass installations in the country, after a coal-burning facility on the Charleston, Ill., campus had drawn considerable public and media scrutiny, becoming a headache for EIU recruiters.

The Renewable Energy Center, a 19,000-square-foot steam plant that will provide heat for buildings and classrooms, uses wood chips from forest residue for fuel, and will slash the campus’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 20,000 metric tons while saving the school $140 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.…Read More

New devices will help track UC Merced’s water usage

Water conservation could help the university save thousands annually.

The University of California (UC) Merced has partnered with a start-up company in the Silicon Valley to use a new technology that will help the university better track its water usage.

The university hopes that the technology will also help create a water-saving culture on campus.

This summer, the university bought 40 Aquacue Barnacles for about $40,000 and attached them to the 40 water meters around campus. An Aquacue Barnacle is a device that monitors water usage and tracks data in real time.…Read More

Campus technology departments going green

Campus technology departments are reducing their environmental impact—and saving money—by consolidating servers.

Campus technology departments across the country are finding that investing in energy-efficient technologies has an economic benefit as well as helping to save the environment.

“We projected a 30-percent increase in power efficiency … and [are] looking at about $7,700 in annual savings,” said Daniel Lichter, director of data and network infrastructure at Saint Xavier University. Much of these savings have come from consolidating servers, Lichter said.

CDW Government LLC (CDW-G) surveyed 756 technology professionals for its 2010 “Energy Efficient IT Report” and found that three-quarters of respondents are working to reduce energy use in their IT operations. If current energy use rates don’t change, greenhouse gas emissions from data centers will outweigh those from the airline industry by 2020, the company warns.…Read More

Tossing inefficiency to the curb

In a pilot project, Iowa State cut its trash collection costs by 90 percent using BigBelly solar trash compactors.
In a pilot project, Iowa State cut its trash collection costs by 90 percent using BigBelly solar compactors.

Taking out the trash is about to get a whole lot greener at a number of campuses this fall, as colleges and universities invest in solar trash compactors that are expected to save them money in the long haul.

Eleven new BigBelly solar compactors are being installed across the Iowa State University campus in areas where traditional trash receptacles used to need to be emptied multiple times a day, said ISU Director of Sustainability Merry Rankin.

The devices are cutting trash collection costs as a result of their built-in solar-powered compactors. They store up solar energy throughout the day, then when the container fills to a certain point, the compactor crushes the trash.…Read More

MIT turns to smart ventilation as campus greening continues

MIT's green efforts could save the campus $50 million.
MIT’s green efforts could save the campus $50 million.

An advanced ventilation system that adjusts airflow according to outdoor temperatures and how many people are in a room could help the Massachusetts Institute of Technology save $100,000 annually as the university continues to trim its energy use.

MIT teamed up with air quality company Aircuity on Aug. 16 to equip the university’s Hayden Library and the Sloan School of Management with a ventilation infrastructure that will help reduce electricity use by 15 percent in the next three years, according to Aircuity’s web site.

The new system, called OptiNet, includes an HVAC optimizer mode and sensors that constantly measure air quality–critical elements for schools and businesses looking to bring down energy costs.…Read More

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