The Living Learning Center at Tyson Research Center and the Impact on a Campus Deborah Singer Howard, SUNY Director of Sustainability

A 2,000 acre outdoor laboratory, Tyson provides a living landscape for environmental research, education, and outreach. Washington University’s Tyson Research Center

Sustainable Building Certification Programs LIVING BUILDING LEED CERTIFIED LEED SILVER LEED GOLD LEED PLATINUM

The Living Building Challenge: Sustainable Performance Site Materials Water Energy Indoor Quality Beauty & Inspiration

Rainwater collection

The clean, odorless, user-friendly, almost waterless secret:

Net Zero Energy

Sizing the photovoltaic system Estimate building demand, match with estimated solar production – Building performance, roof aspect, building orientation, shading, panel efficiency, user behavior… Target: Production ≥ consumption over a 12- month period

Net Metering to “store” energy Production surplus: Export to grid Temporary deficit: Import from grid

Annual Net Zero Energy Purchase electricity Sell back surplus

HVAC, energy, and building envelope audits – Infiltration – Windows, doors – Insulation – HVAC design and performance – Design features with performance trade-offs Winter : Time for some adjustments

Addition of 2.82 kW of tracking panels

Buildings can be restorative

Red cedar siding from habitat restoration

Salvaged logs – Black walnut – White ash – Shagbark hickory – Red oak – White oak

Certification as a Living Building (2010)

New courses making use of Tyson: – Sustainable Textiles – Decoding Sustainability – Graduate Core Architecture Studio: Climate Responsive Building Strategies – Lightweight Prototypes – Landscape Architecture – Energy Alternatives – Sustainable Design – Freshman Seminar: “The Tyson Seminar” – Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics Come for the green building… …stay for the field station

New research interest NSF-funded project focusing on water quality in non-traditional drinking water systems (VA Tech) NSF proposal: Location-based sensing and controls of building HVAC systems (WUSTL) Undergraduate thesis on relative performance of ground-source vs air-source HVAC systems (WUSTL)

Since Spring 2009: 10-fold increase in university class visits and associated user-days Previously dominated by natural science users Now draw users from art; architecture; mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering; general studies seminars; mathematics; performing arts Tyson’s profile with WU admin has increased in proportion to these new users

Before and After