Page 3 - College Planning & Management, April 2017

Campus Scene IN THE SPOTLIGHT
UMass Amherst Opens Net-Zero Energy Building
Ask the Expert
This Month
Crisis Communications
Is it possible to both integrate and segment communications?
YES! THIS IS AN EXCITING DEVELOPMENT IN
school communication platforms. Integrators are physically wired to fire
panels, lockdown switches or any electrical “normally open switch” for reliability and fast response. The number of switch inputs that can be monitored depends on your platform configuration.
When integrators detect changes in a switch’s physical status (e.g., a fire alarm is pulled), emergency alerts on the displays of your communications platform are instantly triggered. Detailed instructions can accompa- ny visual displays and automated notifications to authorities may be texted or emailed.
Messages are delivered to displays in either “all-call” or “zoned” deployment. For all-call,
a single emergency switch is monitored by one integrator, and a single message is cre- ated when the switch’s status changes. Your entire campus receives the same message; for instance, “Tornado warning, take shelter!”
For zoned configuration, multiple integra- tors are wired to monitor a single switch and the platform triggers different messages when the switch’s status changes. Integrators are assigned to groups of displays, allowing messages to be tailored for particular groups (zones) even if
the alerts are triggered by the same alarm. For example, during a fire, all alerts might display “Fire emergency!” but the instructions may be “Exit Door A” for one zone and “Exit Door B” for another.
For routine messaging, communications platforms can deliver tailored daily messages.
Zoned messaging delivers more relevant communications, especially in emergencies. Schools are rightfully giving more thought to granular evacuation protocols, and clear and instant communications are at their core.
Fred Bezat is product manager at American Time. Contact him at fbezat@atsclock.com or 877/666-1208.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST DEPARTMENT OF
Economics has opened Crotty Hall, a new 16,800-square-foot net-zero-energy build- ing housing 35 offices and four conference rooms.
Designed by architect Sigrid Miller Pollin of the UMass Amherst architecture de- partment and built with a $10 million grant from an anonymous donor, the building is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes and as such would be the first net-zero building on campus. It will use about one-fifth the energy of the average office building in its climate.
The building achieves its energy efficiency by integrating a number of features. The walls, roof and foundation are heavily insulated, and the roof is covered with high-efficiency solar voltaic panels, which are not visible from the street. Eight geothermal wells reach about 450 feet deep to draw heating and cooling water that remains a near-constant 52°F all year. Heat is transferred by radiant panels on the ceilings, and all windows are three layers of glass. Sensors contribute to the conser- vation. A street-level dashboard tracks energy consumption and production.
Landscaping includes terraced rain gardens that filter rain water as it goes down- hill into a lower wetland area.
Union College to Launch
$100 Million Project
Union College in Schenectady, NY, will embark upon an expansion and renovation of its Science and Engineer- ing (S&E) Center that will transform the school’s historic approach to interdisci- plinary engagement by creating a fully unified and integrated complex. The $100 million project is the most ambi- tious and largest in the school’s history and when completed, will rank among the finest undergraduate science and
engineering facilities in the country. The complex will be completed in
phases over the next two years. This in- cludes an addition completed for fall term 2018 and renovation of three sections of the existing S&E Center by fall 2019.
Built during the late 1960s and dedicated in 1971, the Science and Engineering Center has been instrumen- tal in educating generations of students in biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy, and computer, electrical and
{ CONT. ON PAGE 8 }
APRIL 2017 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 3