By Dmitri Torpey | Nov. 21, 2019

On Tuesday, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held in the atrium of Rowan Hall to celebrate the establishment of Rowan’s Sustainable Facilities Laboratory.

Housed in the Rowan College of Engineering’s Sustainable Facilities Center, the lab was founded in 2018, but the ceremony celebrating its opening was not held until Tuesday.

The lab’s focus is to cut the environmental and economic impacts of buildings, while also giving students practical experience in the field, Sean Fischer, the associate dean for external affairs for the engineering department said.

One service the lab provides is “building audits, to make sure buildings are operating as efficiently as they can, with respect to energy usage,” Fischer said. “The program has a direct impact on the National Guard’s ability to manage its facilities. It’s a great way to engage the students in research where there is a visual outcome… we think that’s a great way to bring research experience into the undergraduate missions.”

$6.8 million have been committed to projects in the Sustainable Facilities Center by New Jersey’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Army National Guard.

The projects are extremely important in helping both groups more efficiently manage their large properties says Major Jeanne Falchek, the Planning and Programming Branch Chief for the Construction Facilities Management Office of the New Jersey Army National Guard.

“The Rowan engineering department internship programs are instrumental to our success in providing sustainable facilities for our soldiers to train in,” Falchek said.

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This story is part of The Whit’s participation in a statewide climate reporting collaboration with members of the NJ College News Commons, a network of campus media outlets working together to cover the climate crisis in New Jersey.