The College of Architecture and Planning is aiming for a big fat zero.
Discussion and planning is under way to renovate the college’s building for $15 million and bring the facility to a state of net-zero energy consumption, said Brad Baird, development officer for the College of Architecture and Planning. In order to become “net-zero,” the building must produce the equivalent of the amount of energy it consumes, Baird said.
The college administration wants this building to stand as a living example of the benefits of environmental savings, Baird said.
Dean Brenda Scheer said the goal of this project is for the college to reduce, conserve and generate its own energy. When this project is complete, the building would not cost the U any money by removing energy from the U’s system, Scheer said.
It’s really challenging because it is a 40-year-old building, much like several other academic buildings in the state, Scheer said. The administration wants this project to be a demonstration for the state and the nation, Scheer said.
In a U press release, architecture professor Robert Young’s research found that the building’s renovation would mean saving materials as well as energy. Young’s research also said the renovation of a building prevents energy from being spent on the construction of a new building.
Baird said they are in the early planning phases, which will take about nine months to a year.
The administration is looking at the building to get an understanding of what it is going to take to reduce the energy usage, Baird said.
Scheer said she realizes that taking the building off the U’s energy system is a pretty advanced project.
“This is a very unusual undertaking,” Scheer said. “Only eight or nine buildings in the country are completely net-zero, and they have all been built from the ground up.”
The idea to transform the building came out of discussions with U alumni, Scheer said.
Architecture students have been studying the topic all semester and met Friday with experts from across the state and the country to discuss the possibility.
Once the architecture administration had the idea, they took it to the higher echelons of the U administration. So far, the response has been positive, Baird said.
Baird said the college is engaged in fundraising for the renovation. Baird said they are looking for private donors as well as funding from the federal government through the U.S. Department of Energy.
It will be about three to four years before renovation actually begins, Baird said.
“We know our goal is pretty out there,” Scheer said.
Net zero building