Andre McEwing from TCCD spoke to
our class about an upcoming project for Tarrant County College District
(TCCD). The college is building a
new building on its South Campus that is seeking to be LEED Platinum. According
to Andre, this is the highest LEED certification that a building can
receive. BNIM is one of the
partners working with TCCD on the project. According to their web site “This
facility sets a new course for development on a campus largely built in the 1970s
and will be the premier training center for its students, faculty, and the
greater community.”
Andre went on to describe some of
the goals of the building. One of these inclues being net zero. Net zero
is defined a facility producing as much energy as it uses. I learned that earlier in the day from a different speaker, Amari Roskelly.
Freese and Nichols, another
partner of the project detailed that “the building systems will be exposed and
include interactive displays showing real-time performance of the building
systems, allowing students and visitors to use the facility as learning tool.”
The company went on to list some of the sustainable features of the building.
These include Solar panels and tubes, outdoor teaching areas for green roof
research, bio retention swales and permeable paving to eliminate storm water
runoff, rainwater harvesting, geothermal heating and cooling.
I believe some of the best
teaching is through hands-on experience. The new building will give students a
personal experience with green technologies in their particular fields of study.
Students will get to experience the effects of the different technologies first
hand. I am thrilled that our local community college sees
the value of this type of building.
REFERENCES
No comments:
Post a Comment