LCC’s Downtown Campus: Teaching Building and “Living Laboratory”
An eyesore and a question mark for so long, the big empty pit next to Eugene’s library is finally ready for a facelift. With help from a $100,000 EWEB grant, Lane Community College’s Downtown Campus will feature energy-efficient systems as part of a “living laboratory” for hands-on learning experiences, house multiple community and LCC programs, and take its stand as LCC’s first residential building. Geared for transformation, the empty space is on the verge of blossoming into an innovative, sustainable, and community-enhancing building, with the hope of adding a splash of vitality to Eugene’s downtown.
LCC’s Downtown Campus Project, which is designed to be a collective teaching and residential facility, includes plans for a 90,000 square foot academic building and a 75,000 square foot residential building with 250 beds. Design goals aim for LEED Platinum Certification for the academic building and LEED Gold Certification for the residential unit. With 36,000 students enrolled in credit and non-credit classes each year, LCC is the 3rd largest of Oregon’s 17 community colleges. With it’s spiffy new downtown campus, the college will have even more to offer its academic and community learners.
Chosen by the Eugene Water and Electric Board‘s 3,500+ Greenpower customers, LCC’s Downtown Campus Project was announced as the Grant recipient during Eugene’s Earth Day Celebration on April 23rd. EWEB’s Greenpower Grant Program, which began in 2007, allocates funds from EWEB customers for renewable energy or education projects. EWEB customers have the option to purchase $1.50 or $10 “blocks” of Greenpower or may donate an extra penny per kilowatt-hour of their electrical use to Greenpower. Other finalists of this year’s Greenpower Grant included St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, the University of Oregon Solar Energy Center, Renewable Energy Development International, Full Access, and Early Childhood Cares.
The $100,000 EWEB grant will provide funds for the installation of a 12kW rooftop photovoltaic array, with three 4kW systems each showcasing a different type of solar panel. There will be monocrystalline panels, thin film panels, and either polycrystalline or CIGS panels, with the variety allowing students to monitor energy production and compare the different systems. As part of the Energy Management Curriculum, the panels allow students to get some hands-on experience with solar power and really get a closer look at how the energy production works, as well as giving them an opportunity to evaluate the different types of panels for efficiency. Students will also get the chance to learn about the installation and maintenance of the panels. The EWEB grant will also go to infrastructure that will support future expansion as funds become available.
Other energy-focused features of the Downtown building will include a glass-walled main mechanical room so students and visitors can visualize the flow of energy, a large solar hot water system, skylights, a green roof, and a variety of overlapping HVAC systems to be used as comparative systems. Extensive monitoring and tracking systems will be put in place for data collection and educational purposes. The use of multiple systems in a single space will be part of the “living laboratory” component of the Northwest Energy Education Institute’s (NEEI) Energy Management Program (a two year Associates of Applied Science degree,) as well for other energy courses offered through NEEI and Lane.
In addition to the Energy Management Program, several other LCC and community programs will be housed in the Downtown Campus. One such program is the Oregon Small Business Development Network, which is an association with the Oregon Business Development Department and Lane Community College that provides business management assistance, training, and resources to small businesses within the community. The Small Business Development Center will also have a space in the building. The SBDC assists local businesses, and runs a “Strategies for Success” Program that provides resources to businesses in Eugene’s outlying rural areas. Adult Basic and Secondary Education, which offers basic academic and employment skills for Adult learners, English-language learners, individuals studying for the GED, students with developmental disabilities, and any individuals who want to increase their employability, will also call the building home. Other programs that will be a part of LCC’s Downtown Campus include, Continuing Education, English as a Second Language, Senior Companion Project, Successful Aging Institute, Center for Meeting and Learning, eDev: Lane Micro business/Entrepreneurial Development, and the Lane Community College Store.
The Downtown Campus should prove to be more than just a boon to LCC students and individuals involved in it’s various programs. Written into the Project’s Grant Proposal is the assumption that “the project will generate around the clock activity and increased street presence.” Livening up Eugene’s Downtown has been a top priority on the agenda, and this project appears to be a plan that could actually work. The grant proposal goes on to say, “The resulting vitality will spill over into the surrounding fabric of the community.” Vitality, it seems, could go a long way in our Downtown area.
Site preparation has already begun and building construction is expected to begin in June of this year, with construction completion scheduled for October of 2012. The photovoltaic array will be installed during the last few months of construction, with an estimated move-in date of November 2012.