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Augsburg student wears a hardhatThe Center for Science, Business, and Religion (CSBR) is Augsburg’s first new academic building in 60 years and will replace the 60-year-old, inefficient Science Hall. CSBR will have a story to tell—of excellence in the sciences, of intersections and connections among disciplines, of transforming city hardscape to more welcoming green space, of sustainability on display. Students like Andrew Nguyen and Reid Larson will benefit from the learning opportunities this state-of-the-art building will offer.

The CSBR will be a LEED-certified building, created in collaboration with a prestigious, experienced, innovative team of consultants:

Holabird & Root Architects have won awards for sustainability and design for college science centers they’ve created. Their design is based on Augsburg’s concept of intersections, offering a physical and intellectual framework for bringing disciplines into dialogue with each other.

McGough Construction’s “Bright Green” pre-construction and planning consultation helps CSBR to take advantage of the most innovative green building techniques and goals.

oslund.and.associates approaches landscape design as art, as simplicity, and, at Augsburg, as a laboratory for sustainable environmental practices in dialogue with themes of intersections.

Key concepts of the CSBR

Reid Larson

Environmental task force

MPIRG (the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group) is a student group at Augsburg that has been hard at work on environmental sustainability issues on campus. I’m the leader of the Environmental Task Force within MPIRG … [that] has been involved in many environmental sustainability projects over the past few semesters, including working with the current and past food services companies on introducing compostable cups to the dining locations, composting food wastes, and introducing another day of trayless dining in the cafeteria. We have also been an integral part of converting the College to buying 100% wind energy, made possible largely by the Focus the Nation event last year. In addition, the task force works on environmental education and awareness, one example being the Detox Forum.

Most of our work last semester was centered around putting together a survey on the commuting habits of Augsburg’s students, faculty, and staff. This survey looked at the distance people commute from their homes to Augsburg and how they get here, the results of which were put into the larger Greenhouse Gas Inventory of the entire College for the Presidents Climate Commitment. As a student, I have been central in the discussions around the science building, especially around the “green” or sustainable features of the new building. I have done a lot of work, some of it through MPIRG, ensuring that the science building has a green roof.

I hope to continue my work in environmental sustainability as I graduate from Augsburg and go on to graduate school in mechanical engineering, and then ultimately find a career in the renewable energy field.

-Reid Larson ’09

The building—organized around a “necklace” of public spaces that encourages the community at large to cross paths

Linking circle—serving as a gateway to the neighborhood and city, with connections to Lindell Library and Sverdrup Hall

Expanded quadrangle—a landscape laboratory, creating green commons on campus from west to east, articulating with Murphy Square, the city’s first public park

What’s green about CSBR

Specific planning for LEED certification carried out at the preplanning stage among architects, contractors, and landscape designers

Sharing of interdepartmental resources in efficient academic “neighborhoods” throughout the building

Building siting and design encouraging pedestrian traffic, moving auto traffic away from commons area, plus welcoming green space replacing city hardscape

Rainwater cisterns collecting water to irrigate greenhouses and flush toilets

Landscape laboratory—on-site stormwater containment, integrating native species, and interpreting features of urban sustainability

Highly efficient HVAC and heat recovery systems, with optimal siting for solar exposure and for harvesting daylight deep into the building

Air quality systems recycling gases and fumes

Innovative, sustainable materials, preferably locally-sourced and expressing themes of intersections in panels, forms, surfaces

Transportation hub—center for bicycle storage and conveniences; site for shuttle transfer to light rail

CSBR by the numbers

134,000 square feet, LEED certified, an addition to Sverdrup Hall, 75,000 square feet for eight academic departments (biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, psychology, business, and religion)

• 8 classrooms

• 21 teaching labs

• 6,000 square feet of student-faculty research space

• 2,000 square feet of greenhouse space on the roof of the building

• Informal gathering spaces for learning and conversation

• Skyway linking circle to Lindell Library

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