Sharp Sustainability Education Center: Overview
The new center building will house a "smart" classroom, a display gallery, an office, and support spaces. The Center will demonstrate the concept of green building by making the best use of orientation, natural daylight and natural ventilation, using recycled and environmentally-friendly materials, reducing water consumption through fixture choice and collection of rainwater for irrigation, providing heating and cooling via a geothermal system, electricity production from roof-mounted photovoltaic panels, and providing a super-insulated building "envelope" (walls and windows, roof and floor slab) to reduce heating and cooling loads. The design allows future installation of a greenhouse, and attached trellis structures to provide additional electric power. Also envisioned is the development of the outdoor features of the Sustainability Center, including a windmill, an organic garden, cold frames, an outdoor classroom, and a greenhouse.
The construction commenced in mid-October 2007 with completion expected in the early Fall semester, 2009. Dr Emma C. Rainforth, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, has been named the Center's Director.
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