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’sTyson Research Center

Sustainable Building Certification Programs

LIVING BUILDING

LEED CERTIFIED

LEED SILVER

LEED GOLD

LEED PLATINUM

The Living Building Challenge:Sustainable Performance

Site

Materials

WaterEnergy

Indoor Quality

Beauty & Inspiration

Rainwater collection

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

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

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Purchaseelectricity

Sell backsurplus

• HVAC, energy, and building envelope audits– Infiltration– Windows, doors– Insulation– HVAC design and

performance– Design features with

performance trade-offs

Winter 2009-2010: Time for some adjustments

Addition of 2.82 kW of tracking panels

Buildings can be restorative

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

Before and After