Students were updated on the status of construction on the Electrical and Computer Engineering building at an open meeting Monday.

Professor Philip Krein, chair of the new building committee, told students at the meeting that the building, located on Wright Street next to the Beckman Institute, is on track for completion by July 10, 2014. Classes will begin in the new building in fall 2014. 

The new building, which hasn’t been named yet, is significantly larger than the department’s current building, Everitt Laboratory, and will be fully equipped with updated technology. It will contain office spaces, students lounges, classrooms and labs.

“Basically every significant lab in the new building will be as big as the biggest lab in Everitt building,” Krein said.

It will also be the largest zero net energy building in the nation, he said. The new building will be mainly run by solar energy from solar panels. Although the building will still have to rely on the University’s electrical system, the average energy usage should be close to self-sufficient. It will also have better insulation and a more energy-saving beam cooling-heating system.

Krein provided reasons for using solar energy in the new building, although new technologies are being developed every day.

“Prices on solar panels dropped roughly in half,” Krein said. “(The amount) of money that we can save is huge.”

He said after construction is completed, the zero net energy system will be an example for other buildings and facilities in the nation.

So far, the main structures of the building are visible, and some of the utility systems have been installed.

As far as location, Krein said the building’s distance from the Quad should not be a problem for students. 

“We spent a great year of time talking about traffic pattern and access,” Krein said. “We were designing for the entrance on the southwest corner to be a very high-traffic entrance, much wider, much higher access than any of the doors in Everitt.”

The Everitt building will be used for the Bioengineering Department and other special programs through the college once the new building is finished, said Andreas Cangellaris, Electrical and Computer Engineering department head.

A recent $100 million gift from The Grainger Foundation allocated $40 million for Everitt’s renovation “to meet the needs for state-of-the-art facilities for engineering instructional laboratories, new engineering research centers, and the Department of Bioengineering at Illinois,” according to a Jan. 28 press release.

Krein said the Fabrication Lab, a laboratory for digital design, will also be featured in the new building. The lab in Everitt, which was one of the first in the nation, will continue to operate.

Paprapee Buason, freshman in engineering, said he’s looking forward to using the new building.

“It’s great that it’s going to be done before I graduate,” Buason said. “The Everitt building is kind of old, so the new building will be something interesting.”

Earn can be reached [email protected].