University energy experts will explore ways to make Gilbert Hall more energy efficient when renovations on the building begin later this year.
Photovoltaics, solar energy cells that transfer the sun’s energy into usable electricity, have been proposed as a new source of electricity.
Brian Hawley, energy management engineer for Eugene Water and Electric Board, said the proposed photovoltaic cells would be placed on the roof and coupled with the new building’s design. These additions would allow Gilbert Hall to use 50 percent less energy than a building at current standards.
“That would be a great improvement,” he said.
Fred Tepfer, project planner for the Lillis Business Complex/Gilbert Hall Additions and Alterations Project, said the photovoltaics would be placed on the south glass wall and skylights of the new atrium, as well as on the roofs of the mechanical equipment penthouses. Funding for the panels, however, is the major factor on whether they are added, he said.
“There is a desire to incorporate building-integrated photovoltaics, but at this point it’s still quite iffy, as there is no source of funds for photovoltaics in the project,” he said.
Tepfer said he does not know where funding would come from, but most likely it would be from private donors and tax credits, and not from the University.
“Neither the Lundquist College of Business nor Facilities Services are actively involved in the fund raising,” he said.
Ben Gates, co-director of the University’s Ecological Design Center, formerly known as the Solar Information Center, said he would like to see solar energy panels placed on all campus buildings. To do so, he said, incidental fees might play an important role.
“Our plan is to try and arrange for one dollar of every student’s incidental fees to go into a general fund every term,” he said. “It would be something that every student would be involved in.”
Jonathan Pincus, the building manager for Gilbert Hall who formerly served on the renovation management team, said he would support photovoltaics on the new building.
“Naturally, I am very supportive of the overall project and the concept of incorporating photovoltaics and other advanced energy measures into the design,” he said.
Tepfer said $300,000 is needed to add the maximum number of solar cells.
Hawley said the placement of the solar energy panels would help make it a sustainable energy resource.
[The solar cells] “would help solar energy grow to where it would be more cost efficient,” he said. “This building is the right step in making it a sustainable campus; the campus should be praised for its efforts.”
He added that the cells would give Gilbert Hall a unique look compared to other University buildings.
The photovoltaics, combined with the finished building, would make it one of the more modern buildings on campus. Room for 600 new seats has been planned in the construction, which is the first major addition to the building in almost 50 years. When finished, the Lillis Business Complex is expected to be a four-story building, at a size of 196,500 total square feet.
The design for the project was finished in 1999 and construction is scheduled to begin no earlier than September 2001, Tepfer said. The building’s addition is scheduled to be completed no sooner than September 2004, with the remodeling phase of the project nine months later. If money is raised for the photovoltaics, Tepfer said the construction of those would parallel the time frame of work done on Gilbert Hall.