Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation research tower to be Earth-friendly
BY SUSAN SIMPSON
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Published: March 27, 2009
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation will unveil plans today for a $125 million research tower combining high technology with low energy.
An artist’s drawing shows a building planned by Oklahoma Medical Research Center. Rendering provided
Multimedia
The 185,000-square-foot tower will feature 24 wind turbines designed like the double-helixes of DNA, solar panels and expanses of natural light. Together, they are expected to decrease electricity usage by up to one-third.
"This tower will be the first medical research facility anywhere to harness the wind to help power its labs,” said
Dr. Stephen Prescott, president of OMRF. "It will be a model of energy efficiency and resource preservation.”
He said the design sends an important message.
"It’s a statement about being forward-looking and state-of-the-art in everything we do,” he said. "We want to show we are trying to be innovative in every part of our organization.”
The turbines have a unique design being patented by Synergy
California, said
Reinhold Ziegler, a partner in the company and the turbines’ designer.
The turbines — to be built into the top of the structure — are soundless and shrouded in materials that accelerate the speed of the wind to double the output. Solar panels are incorporated in the design.
From fundraising, OMRF has $51 million of the $125 million needed to build and equip the structure, and to recruit dozens of top scientists and technicians.
Construction is expected to start in several months, with an opening date of early 2011. The tower will be directly north of the foundation’s main building in the
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center complex.
When it’s completed, OMRF will seek gold certification from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Only one other building in
Oklahoma — the
Gatorade building in Pryor — has the certification.
Other green features will include a rain garden on the roof to prevent runoff pollution and insulate the building. Water consumption will be reduced by recycling condensation from the air conditioning system and by using native plants in landscaping.
Design details will be unveiled tonight at OMRF’s First Ladies’ Gala at the National Cowboy &
Western Heritage Museum in
Oklahoma City.
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I'm glad they are using renewable energy and they should use the funds to go all the way. They should fuel their Bunsen burners with waste gas from oil wells, sewer, and land fills. They should install an energy retention reservoir and collect cold brine at night and then use it to cool the building on hot July days. So much more to do when the money is available.