Industry News

Maui Community College's planned $26 million, 34,000-sf science building, designed by Design Partners of Honolulu, is targeted for LEED Gold certification-a real challenge, as some of the LEED criteria, such as using building materials obtained from within a few hundred miles, are impossible for the island location. The building will house eight separate laboratories, a lecture hall, a large foyer intended for exhibitions, and a small, separate observatory. "Green" features will include solar photovoltaic panels, rooftop wind turbines, skylights, and light wells.

The Engineering Department at Yamagata University is planning to begin construction in fall 2009 on a 6,000-square-meter research center in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture. The 1- to 2-billion yen facility will focus on research in organic electroluminescence-the use of organic material that emits light with the application of electric current, a process which consumes much less electricity compared to other forms of illumination. Anticipated applications of the process include use in cell phones and TV screens.

A Louisiana State University study published in The Southern Medical Journal concludes that greater use of stairs in buildings could help to solve the nation's weight problem. Staircases can be made a central feature of new buildings with the use of improved lighting, air conditioning, carpeting, painted walls, artwork, motivational signs, and even music to make using the stairs more attractive to building users.

Thanks to the slowdown in the construction industry, the new Health Sciences Building at Palomar College is expected to come in under the anticipated $10 million price tag originally estimated for the two-story, 25,000-sf facility. Nursing and dental programs will be consolidated in the new building, which will house labs, both specialized classrooms and five general-use classrooms, and simulator rooms equipped with instructor-controlled mannequins. Completion of construction is expected in June 2010.

The University of Minnesota (UM) and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are planning the NuMI Off-Axis Electron Neutrino Appearance Experiment (NOvA), which will be built 45 feet below ground near Ash River, Minn. The $270 million project , which has received $40 million in Federal stimulus grant funding, will operate as a UM School of Physics and Astronomy lab. The balance of the funding will come from the U.S. Department of Energy. The subatomical research is expected to shed light on the origins of the universe.