Arizona State University NOVEMBER 09 www. bus- ex. com 49 T he Valley of the Sun was not named on a whim. Set in the Arizona desert, it is the collective term for the Greater Phoenix area, which includes the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale and Glendale. The entire region enjoys hot summers, mild winters and, of course, stunning scenery. Today, Phoenix is the seventh- largest city in the United States, while Arizona State University ( ASU) is the largest public research university under one management in the nation. " ASU is what we call one university in many places," explains David Brixen, head of university services. " We have four campuses." The oldest is in Tempe. Founded in 1885 as a Normal School, it evolved into a teachers' college before finally gaining university status in 1950. Of the 68,000 students enrolled at ASU, 57,000 are studying at Tempe. The West Campus was opened in 1989 and is located on the western edge of Phoenix. The Polytechnic Campus, opened in 1996, is sited on part of the old Williams Air Force Base in Mesa, and the most recent expansion has been into the center of downtown Phoenix. ASU's commitment to the environment has strong backing and leadership from the top. The University's president, Michael Crow, is chairman and a founding member of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment. " We have a stated goal that all our new buildings will achieve LEED Silver," Brixen says. " We've accomplished that and in some cases exceeded it. We have also just completed our draft report for the ACUPCC, wherein we have established a goal to be carbon neutral by 2025." It's an ambitious commitment. A major element of the University's plan for achieving this is the Campus Solarization Project, which takes advantage of the region's primary asset: the long hours of sunshine. Ultimately ASU intends to generate at least 20 megawatts of power from solar energy. The first phase of the project is already delivering nearly 2 MW of solar power. The first solar panels were installed on the Tyler Street parking structure in 2004, and following the success of that project, photovoltaic panels have also been installed on the rooftops of two other parking garages, on the prestigious Biodesign Institute and on Coor Hall at the Tempe Campus. The second phase of the project- to be completed by June 2010- is to install an additional 8.5 MW of photovoltaic arrays on a variety of buildings on the Tempe Campus. " This phase will also include some ground- mount systems at the Polytechnic Campus and West Campus, as well as three covered parking lot canopies at the West Campus," State University is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2020. David Brixen Steve Bernhart explain to Gay Sutton how utilizing the region's greatest asset- sun- to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels

50 www. bus- ex. com NOVEMBER 09 Brixen says. Meanwhile, planning for a third phase to install another nearly 7 MW is already under way. The University has been expanding consistently over the past 10 years. While the aim was to achieve LEED Silver certification, the Biodesign Institute Building B on the Tempe Campus- completed in January 2006 at a cost of $ 78.5 million- was the first construction project in Arizona to achieve LEED Platinum. " One of the features of the building- and this is common to many of our new buildings- is that we've done an extensive sun study on the building at the design stage," explains Steve Bernhart, associate director of capital programs. " Through this we've been able to minimize the exposure to the westerly and southerly sun and maximize our window usage on the northern and eastern sides." The solar panels on the roof of the building generate at least 10 percent of the total energy requirement of the building. Another interesting feature is the automated movable shades mounted on the outside of the building that track the sun and cast shade on the building, reducing direct solar heating. Tempe is ASU's most intensively developed campus, which leaves very little space for future expansion; however, another recent development on this site is the 586,000- square- foot Hassayampa Academic Village. Completed in July 2007 at a cost of $ 132 million, it consists of a series of residential buildings that have earned LEED Silver certification. Environmental