WHO: Washington University’s Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton; David W. Kemper, vice chair of the Washington University Board of Trustees; Ralph S. Quatrano, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science; Melissa Holtmeyer, doctoral candidate, Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering and student representative to the Board of Trustees; and Stephen F. Brauer, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Camilla T. Brauer.
WHAT: A dedication ceremony for a new building devoted to state-of-the-art teaching and research at Washington University’s School of Engineering & Applied Science. The building is named for Stephen F. and Camilla T. Brauer, the guests of honor.
WHERE: Brauer Hall, near the corner of Skinker Boulevard and Forest Park Parkway. From Forest Park Parkway, enter Danforth Campus at Hoyt Drive. Turn at first left (east) into parking lot. Reserved media parking will be available in front of Brauer Hall.
WHEN: 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1, 2010.
MORE: Stephen Brauer, chair of Washington University’s Board of Trustees and chair of the School of Engineering’s National Council, joined the Board of Trustees in 1991. He has championed the goal of accelerating Washington University’s ascent among the world’s premier universities and building a leading engineering school.
The building, which includes many innovative features, has received LEED Gold certification.
LEED, the acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a nationally accepted rating system for environmental sustainability developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Gold is the second-highest rating in the system.
Among the building’s innovations are solar panels, a wind turbine (on the building’s northeast corner), a reflective roof to minimize heat gain, low-flow toilet fixtures and low-energy lighting systems. Recycled jeans were used for insulation in the walls.
An abandoned brick-lined sewer pipe located in front of the building was converted to an underground cistern that holds rainwater used to irrigate native plants around the building.
Energy- and resource-use meters are integrated with two smartboard systems, one in a teaching lab and one in the atrium, that allow visitors to see how efficiently the building is running. The touch-screen dashboard on the smartboard in the atrium allows a visitor to display the electrical energy used, the energy generated by solar panels, the amount of water consumed and other variables.
Tours are available to media who indicate an interest in advance.
The dedication of Brauer Hall marks the completion of the second phase of the building of a state-of-the-art complex of engineering buildings at the northeast corner of WUSTL’s Danforth Campus. Brauer Hall attaches to Whitaker Hall on its west side and to Green Hall, which is under construction, on its east.
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