Construction on the new Health Sciences building began in August with a few hiccups regarding city building permits, however, the project is on schedule and should be completed by spring of 2015.
The new building will be home to 14 departments including nursing and radiography. With a construction budget of $26 million this is a big project for BC. “This project has been going on for the past seven years, designed then re-designed, then shelved and just last year we got the approval for state funding and we revived the project,” said Srividya Ramachandran, project manager for the construction.
According to the Office of Sustainability website this will be “BC’s greenest building”. The building is LEED gold “nearly LEED platinum” a standard for Green buildings explained Deric Gruen, Director of Sustainability. The T building will have a green roof, natural ventilation, and will be heated through ground source heating. Lights near windows will dim automatically depending on how much sunlight is getting through to the room.
Energy-efficient efforts will not prolong the projected construction time as these features were a part of the initial design of the building making it “built to a better standard,” Gruen said. Ramachandran agreed, saying, “We are growing, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”