The Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology, opened on January 28, 2008, and is the first green community college campus in the nation. The facility has been designed by US architecture and design firm, Perkins+Will.
The 128,000 square feet facility, situated on an 81 acre campus, has introduced new benchmarks in energy-efficiency, conservation and savings. The facility has received LEED-Platinum certification.
The center has been designed to be a learning tool for the students to spread awareness about energy conservation. Karen Cribbins-Kulkin, Perkins+Will lead architect for the project, said that in order to display green design as a learning tool, the design team has placed enthalpy wheels behind the large windows in plain view of the main lobby. It also features animated readouts showing the energy recovered in real time.
The first year of operation has proved to be successful in terms of cost savings in energy consumption. The campus incorporates energy-efficient features such as photovoltaic solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling, and high-efficiency lighting. The interior areas include insulation made from recycled blue jeans, carpets made from recycled material, and furniture that is made from at least 65% recycled materials.
In its first year of operation, the energy systems, along with the Newark Center’s other sustainable features, realized solar power generation preventing 421-tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere in 2008; 69% reduction in purchased electricity and 72% percent reduction in natural gas consumption and combined electricity and gas cost for the entire facility resulted in savings of more than $130,000.
From April 2008, the campus registered zero consumption of energy and got removed from the electrical grid and also sold its unused power.
The ‘green’ facility has also received several honors recognizing its energy- efficient functioning. The Newark Center project recently received the Gold Medal in Building Design + Construction’s prestigious “2009 Building Team of the Year” competition, as well as the “2009 Acterra Business Environmental Award” in the Sustainable Built Environment large project category.
