SUNY Old Westbury will begin renovations this week on its Natural Science Building that will move the school closer to its future conservation goals and support a spike in enrollment.
The college is set to begin a complete renovation and expansion Wednesday of its current 60,000-square-foot Natural Science Building, which originally opened in 1985. The project will turn the building into the center of science learning and research that the campus needs to better prepare graduates for work in scientific, medical and technological fields, the school said.
According to the school, an expansion would add up to 20,000 square feet to the building, although the exact measurement has yet to be finalized. It will include modernized teaching laboratories, the replacement of the campus greenhouse, new collaboration spaces for teaching and co-curricular activities, as well as a planned teaching garden.
This project is expected to exceed SUNY’s energy and carbon reduction goals by approximately 9%. The university system wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and 70% of renewable energy by 2030. SUNY ultimately wants to have 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040 and 85% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to its initiatives relating to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
SUNY Westbury said the building will be 50% more efficient than the current building after renovations. The building is also expected to save the school roughly 21% in utility cost savings over the original design. It will also have an Optimized Ground Loop geothermal system for heating, cooling and electricity generation, a high-performance heat recovery system, low-flume hoods which will consume less energy, exhaust less air and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, energy-efficient glazing on its windows and external sun shades, and a green roof, according to the school.
SUNY Westbury has seen a jump in enrollment as well. The school reported its largest freshman class ever for the 2024-25 academic year. The total number of full-time students at the university was 4,227 in 2019. That number jumped to 4,448 students in 2023 – a 5% increase over just a few years.
An initial planning study was performed in 2016 about ways to upgrade the Natural Science Building. The final recommendation provided two options, with the first one including the expansion of the Natural Sciences Building and full renovation of the existing building. It proposed that the addition would be constructed before the renovations and it would come with a total cost of approximately $67,351,000. The school did not provide an updated cost estimate for the project.
SUNY Westbury lists a number of other projects in progress that also align with its effort to be a more sustainable campus on its website.
There is not timetable currently available for the completion of the project.
