University of Exeter opens new Environment and Sustainability Institute in Cornwall
The University of Exeter has opened a new £30 million ($46.66 million) Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) at the University’s Cornwall Campus, which is designed by global architectural practice BDP.
Inspiring the children to take up careers in research, and engaging them with hundreds of businesses in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and beyond, the ESI building contains light-filled laboratories and collaborative working areas for three research themes: clean technologies, natural environment, and social science and sustainability.
Designed to achieve BREEAM Outstanding, the design of the building draws heavily on local materials and sustainable methods of construction. Outside in the courtyard, nectar-rich wild flowers provide a valuable resource to local pollinators and bat boxes are installed high on the walls.
On the roof, solar panels provide electricity while innovative energy transfer systems reduce elements of the building’s electrical demand by more than 90%.
The ESI leads cutting-edge interdisciplinary research to find solutions to the problems of environmental change. The Cornwall Campus is shared and jointly managed by Falmouth University and the University of Exeter.
The ESI building formally opened on 23 April 2013 by more than 120 local school children.
