Sustainability key for new CUNY science facility.

As the public university of New York, City University of New York (CUNY) recognized the importance of science education both for its students as well as for the economic and social health of the City as a whole. A new Life Sciences facility on the CUNY campus of Lehman College in the Bronx, designed by Perkins+Will, embodies this dedication, combining innovative thinking about scientific teaching and research with environmentally sustainable strategies.

The campus is the base of the University's PhD program in plant sciences, and the building is designed to enable and showcase ongoing plant science research. When complete in 2010, the Life Science Facility is expected to earn a LEED v2.2 Gold Rating.

As CUNY's last major funding initiatives in the sciences took place prior to the City's fiscal crisis of 1974, most of the school's science facilities are approaching the end of their useful lives. In some cases, as at Lehman College, science buildings have not seen significant capital investment since the 1950s and are inadequate from a pedagogical as well as life safety perspective.

The Life Science Facility will present a new, vibrant face for the sciences at Lehman College, with built-in flexibility for future evolution.

The primary goal of the new 70,000 s/f facility is to generate excitement about science and educate the next generation of scientists at Lehman College. A blend of teaching and research labs focused on the study of plant science, the building is built around a core of lab support spaces, faculty offices, and seminar rooms. Modular design provides flexibility: teaching labs can be converted to research labs and seminar rooms will be adaptable as graduate assistant "bullpens."

The design creates a central courtyard defined by new and existing buildings, symbolizing the strength of the collaboration among the sciences at Lehman.

The complex is crafted of simple, elegant volumes that complement the existing collegiate Gothic architecture in terms of massing, scale, language and material. The entry is defined by a multistory glass atrium that links undergraduate teaching with graduate research activities and sponsors interaction among students, faculty and researchers.

In deference to the studies of life housed in the building, as well as in response to the campus's commitment to environmental responsibility, Perkins+Will employed numerous sustainable design strategies in the design of the new facility.

The design team proposed a comprehensive system of storm water management technologies to support the building's mission. Sustainable technologies include the use of solar tubes to generate hot water, the capture and storing of rain water for irrigation, and the filtering of greywater through a constructed wetland system for reuse in the building.

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An important project goal is the inclusion of a system that gathers stormwater both from the building roof and the site and delivers it to an underground wetland system, planted with native grasses. Microbes found on the root systems of these plants will then naturally clean the water, which can also be mechanically filtered and then re-used within the building for non-potable use (flushing toilets, janitor's closets). Excess filtered water will also be stored and used as a supplement to the irrigation system.

In addition to the obvious environmental benefits, this system will serve as a valuable teaching tool, given the College's focus on plant science and estuary and urban ecology.

Electronic monitors may be installed that inform students about the relative performance of the system while class projects might include gathering and testing samples. This constructed wetland will also facilitate a number of LEED credits related to storm water management, water efficiency and innovation in design.