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| SVSU Breaks Ground on $28 million Health & Human Services Building |
| Saginaw Valley State University held ground-breaking ceremonies for its new Health and Human Services building Friday, March 20. The $28 million facility will have nearly 90,000 square feet of floor space when it opens in August 2010.  “This new building will provide our faculty and staff with upgradesthat will enhance the teaching and learning process,” said Janalou Blecke, dean of the Crystal M. Lange College of Health and Human Services. “The physical space and state-of-the-art technology the building offers will provide opportunities to expand and enhance laboratory simulation activities, which are very valuable to students and prepare them for health careers.” The building will contain 13 labs, 12 classrooms and office space. It will also have some interesting environmentally-friendly features, including some that are unseen, such as an aquathermal heating and cooling system that will run an underground pipeline loop to a nearby retention pond, resulting in significant energy savings. “During heating season, we will use about half the energy of a traditional system,” said Steve Hocquard, assistant vice president for campus facilities. “Water is a very efficient energy absorber.” While other buildings utilize aquathermal technology, Hocquard says the use of a retention pond will “likely make the system unique for the state.” In addition, Hocquard says solar panels likely will be included and tied into the building’s electrical grid. SVSU received a silver rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for its renovation and expansion of Pioneer Hall, and he says the new Health and Human Services building will be designed to meet the same standard. Blecke says the new building will also provide a common home for her College, which added the departments of kinesiology and social work to health leadership, health science, medical technology, nursing and occupational therapy, as part of an academic reconfiguration in July 2008. “It’s an opportunity to bring us together and to do more work in an interdisciplinary and collaborative way,” she said. “That is a huge benefit to students because they will be working together with professionals in these fields when they graduate.” TMP Architecture of Bloomfield Hills has been selected as the architect for the project, and Spence Brothers of Saginaw will serve as the contractor. The State of Michigan provided 75 percent of the funding ($21 million) for the building; SVSU is supplying the remaining 25 percent ($7 million). |
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