[Editor's note: See related news release, "Tahoe Basin's New Heart of Environmental Discovery," at: http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7912].

The Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences is a collaboration of Sierra Nevada College and the University of California, Davis, in partnership with Desert Research Institute and the University of Nevada, Reno.

About Lake Tahoe

• Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States and the 11th deepest in the world.
• With an average surface elevation of 6,225 feet above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the highest lake of its size in the United States.
• Lake Tahoe's maximum depth is 1,645 feet. It has an average depth of 1,000 feet. (Note that the depth of Lake Tahoe changes constantly as the lake level changes.)
• Lake Tahoe is about 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, and has 72 miles of shoreline and a surface area of 191 square miles.
• The water temperature near the surface cools to 40 to 50 degrees F during February and March. It warms to 65 to 70 degrees F during August and September. Below a depth of about 600 feet, the water temperature remains a near-constant 41 degrees F.

About the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences

Construction time: May 3, 2005, to Aug. 21, 2006

Project value: $24 million

Building size: Three stories and a basement providing 45,000 square feet of academic and research space.

Energy and environmental features: The building was designed and built with a goal of achieving a Platinum Rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program (http://www.usgbc.org/). It would be only the second such building in the University of California system, the ninth in the state of California, and the first in Nevada.

Its features include:

• Water is cooled by night air, then circulated through radiant pipes for air-conditioning. This eliminates the need for energy-consuming compressors, and for refrigerants and their associated emissions.
• Cool and warm air is dispersed by "displacement" ventilation in the office areas and, for the first time in the U.S., energy-efficient "active chilled beam" ventilation in the laboratories.
• Wall insulation is made of recycled blue jeans.
• Sunlight is maximized: Exterior "light shelves" send daylight deep into rooms; daylight travels from the large central atrium through offices into corridors; and rooftop photovoltaic panels turn solar energy into electricity.
• Using rain and snowmelt in toilets saves water and reduces storm water runoff.
• Co-generator burns clean natural gas to make electricity. Waste heat heats water for sinks.
• Heat is recovered from exhaust air and the gas-fired generator and reused.
• In winter: Gas-burning boilers, plus recovered heat, warm water in pipes, which radiate heat from floors and ceiling panels.
• In summer: Water is chilled in tower by night air, then stored underground. Cold water travels through floors and ceiling panels to absorb heat from the interior rooms.
• Air is circulated largely for ventilation, not temperature control, so fans run much less.

About the collaborating institutions

SIERRA NEVADA COLLEGE: SNC is Nevada's only four-year residential private liberal arts college. Located adjacent to Lake Tahoe, SNC provides students with a solid intellectual foundation through an interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes environmental, social, economic, and cultural responsibility and sustainability. SNC prepares its students to think critically and communicate effectively in order to pursue a lifetime of achievement and success. Information: http://www.sierranevada.edu.

UC DAVIS: The University of California is one of the world's foremost research and teaching institutions, and UC Davis is the University of California's flagship campus for environmental studies. UC Davis is a global leader in environmental studies relating to air and water pollution; water and land use; agricultural practices; endangered species management; invasive plants and animals; climate change; resource economics; information technology; and human society and culture. Information: http://www.ucdavis.edu.

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO: Founded in 1874, the university is the oldest land-grant university in the state of Nevada. It is ranked as one of the country's top 150 research institutions by the Carnegie Foundation and is home to the state's oldest and largest medical school. University scientists are considered national and international leaders in numerous fields, including hydrologic science, seismology, conservation biology, mining engineering, earthquake engineering and environmental literature. Information: http://www.unr.edu.

DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE: DRI is the nonprofit research campus of the Nevada System of Higher Education, using a unique blending of academia and entrepreneurship. DRI employs more than 500 faculty, support staff, and students who are engaged in a research enterprise generating approximately $50 million in total annual revenue. DRI is engaged in about 300 scientific research projects from its main research campuses in Las Vegas and Reno. Information: http://www.dri.edu.