MARET Center headed toward construction

After years of delay, Crowder College may have cleared the final hurdle to construction of the Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology Center: the 2-inch long Ozark cavefish.

The blind cavefish is listed as endangered by the Missouri Department of Conservation and threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service During the public comment period on the project, concerns were raised that geothermal fields included in the project will disrupt cavefish habitat. In a conference call two weeks ago with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Crowder officials, architects and engineers worked out steps to make sure the construction would have limited affects on the endangered Ozark cavefish.

• They will test for underground caves before drilling;

• During drilling and grouting contractors will use sleeves to prevent falling debris;

• Grouting thresholds will be set to prevent filling underground habitat;

• Groundwater heating and cooling from the completed geothermal field will be less than one degree Fahrenheit per day.

Crowder officials were told those steps, outlined in a letter from the Department of Energy to the Fish and Wildlife Service, satisfied concerns and a reply is in the works.

“From that point, that official letter date will be added to the environmental assessment,” said Amy Rand, associate dean of program development and educational support. “And then all of that will be finalized and the DOE will sign what we’ve been waiting for this whole time – the finding of no significant impact.

“As soon as that finding of no significant impact is signed we can begin construction.”

Crowder is prepared to release bids once the environmental assessment and funding from the Department of Energy are finalized.

Appropriation awards for the project have been wrapped in red tape since the first award in 2005. The school received appropriations of $964,000 in 2005, $990,000 in 2006, $984,000 in 2008, $951,500 in 2009 and $1.5 million in 2010. Crowder was notified Wednesday that the two final awards have been cleared and once they get authorization for construction from the DOE they will have access to the money. Funding will be released on a reimbursement basis once Crowder starts construction. Private donations and Crowder matching funds will complete the funding picture.

PHASE ONE

Located just under the wind turbine on Crowder’s campus the MARET center will be built in two phases. The L-shaped phase one will have a pair of large classrooms, two labs, office space and an incubator lab to foster energy-focused small businesses. Most of the mechanical system and both geothermal fields will be installed as part of the first phase, although the fields are sized to support the entire project. Those mechanical systems figure into the project’s estimated $5 million cost. Phase one will be just over 9,000-square-feet, phase two 10,000-square-feet.

The project’s goal is to harness as many natural resources as possible. It will have an earth-sheltered design with a berm built up on the north wall of the building to will help insulate the hydronics room. A curved path will lead to the building’s green roof where cisterns will capture rainwater on the roof for irrigation. Hybrid photovoltaic/thermal cells on the roof will collect solar energy and the building will be tied into the wind turbine. The interior will have radiant heating and cooling instead of a traditional HVAC system. It will be tied to the grid, but not to use energy. The college hopes to sell electricity back to the electric company, making it a net positive energy living laboratory.

“When we start a project we put together owners content requirements,” saidTony Robeson, KRJ Architects. “This thing had a lot of requirements.”

The geothermal system is not the classical version. There will be two geothermal heat pump loops – one cold, one hot and the system will use both loops. It uses water-to-water heat pumps and has a 60-ton cooling capacity, which will also serve phase two. The two geothermal earth loops will consist of 48, 250-foot wells in 140 by 100 feet fields.

Outside the building’s sawtooth roof reflective material will be paired with solar panels. Inside radiant panels mounted against the ceiling will provide heating and cooling.

The team anticipates the building will receive a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. Its design, expected use and even construction methods are facets of the LEED guidelines.

“So many things are involved in a LEED project that you really don’t see in a traditional building,” said Danielle Shafer, TME engineering firm,

The group also got points for including regional materials, cutting down on CO2 emissions. Out of the 69 LEED points available she expects Crowder to get 55 for this project.

“From a construction perspective this is a very unique project,” said Lee Grant, JE Dunn construction project manager.

Every material that goes into the building has been scrutinized and their disposal is also part of the LEED certification. Construction waste will be sorted on site and an Arkansas company will further sort the materials for reuse.

“It’s actually cheaper,” Grant said.

JE Dunn is sorting waste at the health science building and at one point 99 percent of construction waste from it was being recycled.

Also during construction they will take care to make sure the building does not have residual construction dust. Air ducts will be sealed off during construction otherwise, Grant said, they can accumulate an inch or more of grime before the building is ever used.

“You know you’ll be walking into a building that’s not only clean, but it’s been made in a clean way,” Shafer said.

The building will not only be green, but display its energy use. A dashboard located in the entryway will allow students to keep tabs on the building.

“It’s going to be a great learning tool for students,” Shafer said.

For the first year Robeson will be collecting data on the building’s efficiency. They have created models and tried to predict its use, but he is hoping it is even more energy efficient than their studies predicted.

“This building breaks most of the models,” Robeson said. “This building almost needs someone to drive it for a year.

“This is not a building that they finish building and you turn the keys back over to the owner.”

The concept for the project began 10 years ago under the direction of Art Boyt. As architects, engineers and the project construction manager presented details about the state-of-the-art project during the E3 Conference Friday he said he was on the edge of his seat.

“It’s seeing a dream manifest itself,” Boyt said. “It’s a very satisfying process.”