[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 54 (Monday, April 16, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CELEBRATING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY 
                                 CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 16, 2012

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise proudly today to honor the 
Environmental Technology Center, ETC, on the occasion of its tenth 
anniversary. Located at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, CA, 
ETC was one of the first `green' buildings on a university campus.
  Before the concept of a green building was a familiar part of our 
national culture, Rocky Rohwedder, Professor and Chair of the 
Environmental Studies and Planning, ENSP, department, realized that an 
environmental center could provide a valuable teaching tool. He and 
Professor Jean Merriman Falbo (now retired) sought grants to realize 
this vision. I was proud to assist their effort with funds from the 
National Science Foundation, NSF. With further support from the 
California Energy Commission, the majority of the funding was in place.
  Partnering with experts at Sonoma State University and in the 
community, ETC was carefully designed and opened its doors in the fall 
of 2001. The Center represented an exciting new advance in both 
building and education. Functioning as a teaching tool, demonstration 
project, and resource hub, it is used as a classroom for the 
Environmental Studies and Planning Department and several sustainable 
certificate programs as well as a center for service learning, 
technical assistance, and community-based research.
  Considered a Zero Energy Building because it actually generates more 
energy than it consumes, its sustainable technologies include roof 
integrated photovoltaics, advanced window systems, extensive use of 
daylighting, recycled materials, and thermal mass as well as energy and 
water-efficient landscaping.
  In February, 2002, shortly after ETC opened, the House Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology held a Congressional field hearing in 
the Center on the theme of ``A Renewable Roadmap to Energy 
Independence.'' As the Ranking Member of the Science Energy 
Subcommittee, I was able to bring nationally known experts whose 
testimony delivered a clear message: that we could become energy 
independent with sustainable technologies using the techniques 
exemplified in the building. In addition, faculty at the Center, such 
as Dr. Sascha von Meier, testified in Washington, DC, before the 
Committee and later helped me in writing alternative energy 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating all those who made the 
Environmental Technology Center possible and who continue to make it a 
focus of research and application for sustainable building ten years 
later. I applaud their commitment and foresight in creating ``The 
Building That Teaches.''

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