Going Clean in New Lab Facilities
SUNY Morrisville’s Agricultural and Clean Energy Technology Center (ACET) is a 34,000 square foot laboratory facility for agricultural engineering, diesel technology, and renewal energy programs.
ACET provides laboratory and classroom space dedicated to renewable energy technologies, including wind, solar, and biofuel. The labs includes a wind and telecom climbing safety lab, and three large labs for heavy equipment, agricultural equipment, and over-the-road trucks.
The college’s Agricultural Engineering and Diesel Tech programs, also housed at the facility, has three large garage bays equipped with overhead cranes that teach maintenance and repair of diesel and agricultural equipment.
The real-world laboratories, designed to industry standards, help prepare students for success in industries that are seeking qualified graduates.
Built into the Landscape
Utilizing its unique position on campus, the building is benched into a hillside. This siting reduces the area of exterior exposure, thereby reducing the energy demands for heating and cooling. This also helps to conceal the large garage bays – which are oriented toward the back of the building on the low side of the hill.
Economic Design
The building’s structural system incorporates masonry and precast concrete walls which also serve as a durable finish material on the interior. Insulated metal panels wrap around the walls and roof, providing a high degree of energy efficiency with an elegant yet simple agrarian aesthetic.
Maximum Daylight
North-facing windows and skylights let in natural light, while glass is limited on southern exposures – reducing energy consumption through improved daylighting and less cooling demand.
Compact Footprint
The building’s compact layout minimizes circulation, achieving a net square foot ratio of 70%. 26,200 net square feet of academic, faculty and common space is accommodated on two floors.
Energy Efficiency
Through the use of state-of-the-art energy recovery, a well-insulated building envelope and highly efficient radiant floor heating, the building achieves an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 55.1kBtu/sf. This represents an energy savings of over 52% as compared to a comparable building.
Exceeding energy codes by 62 percent in efficiency, ACET boasts a commercial solar array that generates enough renewable energy to offset the building’s carbon emissions, giving students hands-on knowledge of how those systems interact to improve building efficiency and offset its carbon footprint.
