Luther College to break ground May 11 for $20 million Science Laboratories and Research Center
Luther College will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, May 11, 4:30 p.m. for the college's new $20 million Science
Laboratories and Research Center.
Luther College President Richard Torgerson will preside at the ceremony which will be held on the construction site adjacent to Valders Hall of Science. The ceremony is open to the public and will be attended by members of the Luther Board of Regents, major contributors to the college's $90 million Higher Calling Campaign, faculty, students, staff and other guests.
Construction of the 64,000-square-foot building will go through the 2007-08 academic year. It is expected to open in the fall of 2008.
Located adjacent to Valders Hall of Science, the Science Laboratories and Research Center will house the college's biology and chemistry facilities. After completion of the new building, 47-year-old Valders Hall is slated for renovation that will provide improved classroom and laboratory spaces for physics, psychology and nursing.
The new Science Laboratories and Research Center will have 17 teaching labs, faculty-student research areas, lab and research support/storage areas, 21 faculty offices and more than 4,800 square feet of student study areas. It will also offer additional space for collaborative student-faculty research projects.
The Luther building planning team enlisted the help of energy efficiency engineers to design the building to U.S. Green Building Council's LEED standards, including lighting controls sophistication, programs developed to reduce energy consumption and reduce heating and cooling costs.
The heating and air conditioning systems include a novel heat recovery technology. College science buildings typically lose heated air through laboratory hood fans which expel air through vents outside the building. The new Luther building's system will have a heat exchanger that uses warm exhaust air to heat incoming air.
The building will also make use of "green walls" to reduce cooling costs in the summer. Green walls create a phonic and thermal isolation system and act as an air purification device.
Also called a "breathing wall," the vines act as a plant-based bio-filter that removes and breaks down airborne contaminants. A green
wall will be installed on the north wall of the new building to improve air quality and exhibit this modern technology.
Energy efficiency technologies also include dual-flush toilets for water conservation and an innovative rain gardens system that will catch and control storm runoff. Collected and diverted into a garden that features native plantings, and the storm water will slowly filter into the ground rather than run off into the storm sewer.
