The Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS), completed in 2013, is at the vanguard of education and research in sustainability across disciplines such as manufacturing, energy, mobility, and information technology. Certified LEED Platinum, the institute is an advanced laboratory for scientific discovery and experiential learning with flexible research labs, student work areas, classrooms and conference rooms, auditorium spaces and offices.
The building also serves as a living laboratory for high performance buildings where students, faculty and visitors investigate how the building functions in response to climate and occupancy variations. The interrelationship between the sustainable systems of the building and the institute’s research is fundamental to the building’s program and is manifest in the design approach for the project. A wide array of technologies has been integrated, coupled with extensive monitoring and sub-metering equipment, with the goal of evaluating the long-term performance of the overall building and the specific systems within.
This session will present the current research and recent findings of GIS students on both overall building performance and on specific high performance systems. The panel will present these findings in the context of the original project’s design and predicted performance, focusing on lessons learned and unexpected results.