SOUTHFIELD ? Lawrence Technological University’s 13.9 million, 42,000 square foot A. Alfred Taubman Student Services Center is a testament to the school’s commitment to sustainable energy design.
The center’s architect, Joe Veryser, said the idea of turning the facility into a living laboratory for architectural and engineering students came up early in the design process.
?We have a college of architecture here, the largest in Michigan,? he said. ?We teach sustainable design. How could we continue to teach that, if we didn?t put our money where our mouth is??
The 42,000-square-foot building on Lawrence Tech?s Southfield campus was dedicated April 7. It includes a three-story atrium, glass walls, and an environmentally green roof. And, that is just the beginning of the complex?s sustainable energy design features.
The Student Center, which is the result of a collaboration between the architectural and engineering colleges at LTU, also features a geoexchange system with 88 geothermal wells that are drilled 300-feet deep. Water rises from wells and is circulated through a closed system of tubes. The water then travels into the geothermal heat pumps to extract more heat from the surrounding area.
Veryser said that there are no furnaces or boilers in the Student Center. The building is heated by the combination of the heat transferred from the earth into the water that circulates through the tube system.
Veryser described the geothermal heating system as very extravagant and somewhat expensive. The design team originally believed it would start paying for itself in seven-to-ten years. But that was before the price of natural gas increased following hurricanes, Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast, last year.
?As a result of the natural gas price increase, we now expect that the payback will come in five-to-seven years,? said Veryser. ?And, that is very good.?
LTU?s Taubman Student Center is certainly not the first building in southeast Michigan to feature sustainable design. Veryser is confident that it will not be the last. He said the concept is really catching on.
?Everyone is starting to see the need more and more,? he pointed out. ?All you have to do is go to the gas pump in your car and you will see it, too.
Beyond the Taubman Student Center, Veryser believes the evolution and acceptance of sustainable design are also very important on a macro-scale.
?All of the fuels we use to sustain our existence are depleting. It is just a matter of time. We either have to find alternative fuels or find smarter ways of doing things.?
The Taubman Center design team has submitted the project for LEED certification. Veryser doesn?t now if it will be awarded Platinum, Gold or Silver accreditation.
?But, that really isn?t important,? he said. ?What is important is the concepts of LEED. You don?t have to go for accreditation. All you have to do is practice the concepts. With the Student Center, we have done both.?
This story was written by Mitechnews.Com staff writer Rod Kackley, who covers Southeast Michigan. If you have story ideas for Kackley, you can email him at [email protected]
