Universities at Shady Grove Breaks Ground on $20 Million “Green” Garage (VIDEO)
The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) officially broke ground on the campus’s second parking structure, a $20 million “green” garage to support the USG’s addition of the Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Education Facility.
The garage will open in early 2016 and is being funded by Montgomery County, according to a press release about the event. The new parking will support the planned addition of a 220,000-square-foot biomedical sciences and engineering academic complex, which is scheduled to begin its construction in 2016 and open in fall 2018.
USG’s new USG garage will provide 700 new parking spaces, which will enable the campus to serve thousands of additional students in STEMM fields and other academic programs. It will be the first in the county to be submitted as a “Certified Green Garage,” a certification that recognizes sustainable practices in parking structure management, programming, design and technology. The new “green” garage will generate onsite renewable energy and feature energy efficient LED lights.
According to Joseph Bucci, director of marketing and communications for the Universities of Shady Grove, project breakdown includes: $15 million for the garage construction; $2 million is for construction of a new entrance to the campus from Shady Grove Road, and additional costs for design, permitting and project management.
USG will also offer preferred parking and discounted rates to owners of fuel efficient vehicles and those who carpool. The construction of the garage is also “green” in that a large portion of the construction waste will be recycled or reused in the garage and, a significant portion of garage materials and labor will be sourced regionally.
The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) and its University System of Maryland (USM) partner institutions will provide degree opportunities in healthcare and biosciences, engineering, and STEMM education. With the addition of the BSE facility, USG will be able to implement state-of-the-art laboratories, active learning classrooms, clinical training facilities, academic offices, and an expanded level of student services necessary to support program and enrollment growth in these fields, according to the release.
USG’s planned Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Facility is being programmed to meet the needs of the region’s projected workforce, especially in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medical sciences (STEMM). USG and its USM partner institutions will expand degree opportunities in healthcare and biosciences, engineering, and STEMM education. The building will feature state-of-the-art laboratories, active learning classrooms, clinical training facilities, academic offices, and an expanded level of student services necessary to support program and enrollment growth in these high-demand fields.
“The Universities at Shady Grove must continue to grow, in order to provide access to higher education for students who are looking to acquire the education and skills they will need to succeed,” said Dr. Stewart Edelstein, Executive Director of USG and Associate Vice Chancellor of USM. “Our planned campus expansion is vital to the future of our economy and the construction of the new garage is the first important step in the process.”
A “green” garage? Unless it’s attracting something other than cars, it’s hard to imagine how many LED lights and regionally sourced truckloads of concrete it would take to consider the construction of a garage as an act of environmentalism.