CUNY Continues To Wave Its Green Flag
Meredith Taylor
The City University of New York (”CUNY”) announced a budget request earlier this week for $77 million to build a new sustainable library on the campus of Bronx Community College (”BCC”). The North Instructional Building and Library, designed by Robert A.M. Stern, will be constructed for LEED Silver certification and is expected to be ready for occupancy by winter 2011.
The request is part of a $178 million appeal for construction, rehabilitation, and capital equipment to improve the 110-year old campus. Set to go up on what’s currently a parking lot, the new 104,000 building will house a two-story library, 15 large classrooms, a café, group study rooms, and four student lounges. CUNY is also asking for $16 million to make improvements to BCC’s heating, cooling, and electrical systems, with the North Instructional Building to connect to these new systems. CUNY says they’ll improve power availability for the future while lowering costs for energy consumption. They’ll also be replacing the campus’s outdated fire alarm system with an energy-saving, low-voltage system.
CUNY’s capital request was approved unanimously by their Board of Trustees in November, and is currently under review by the city and state. The BCC campus was originally completed in 1899 for New York University, who sold it to CUNY in 1973. The North Instructional Building is just the latest new green CUNY construction project. Last month, CUNY issued an RFP for an expansion of Hunter College’s Brookdale Campus in Gramercy that requires any new building constructed as part of that development to achieve at least LEED Silver certification.
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