UAlbany

When SUNY and Governor Cuomo announced the opportunity for capital funding through the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program in 2011, UAlbany had the vision to bring together scientists and entrepreneurs from across disciplines to collaboratively find solutions to society’s most complex challenges. The plan was to open a research and development complex centered on UAlbany’s core strengths including Climate and Atmospheric Science and Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity. 

ASA had represented UAlbany and worked on many projects with the University, including engaging with the State on UAlbany’s behalf in the legislative and budget process. However, the ETEC expansion was a unique challenge: UAlbany’s campus was landlocked and lacked the space to expand to a new facility. Working with UAlbany’s senior leadership, ASA met with the Governor’s Executive Chamber and the Office of General Services to negotiate a deal for UAlbany to annex property in the neighboring Harriman State Office Campus, one of the State’s most valuable assets. This deal marked the first time the State had ever annexed any piece of the property. The annexation of 12 acres at Harriman was announced in 2016, and the University broke ground in 2018.    UAlbany announced the opening if its ETEC building on November 18, 2021. ETEC is a $180 million, 246,000 square foot state-of-the-art building that when at full capacity will host 200 full time faculty and researchers and 100 research and industry partners. ETEC also aligns with SUNY’s goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions. Heated and cooled by heat pumps connected to 190 geothermal wells and powered in part by nearly 4,800 solar panels on the roofs of the Academic Podium, ETEC is an all-electric facility built to achieve LEED Platinum certification.   ETEC is the new home to the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity and UAlbany’s expansive Weather-Climate Enterprise, including the world-renowned Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and Center of Excellence in Weather & Climate Analytics; and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences as well as Department of Chemistry research labs and the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ departments of Environmental and Sustainable Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The building also is home to the UAlbany-operated New York State Mesonet, the most advanced statewide early warning weather-detection system in the nation, as well as the Regional Forecast Office of the National Weather Service.