U of I Opens New Electrical-Computer Engineering Building

The University of Illinois’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering began the fall semester Monday in a brand-new building.

The new ECE building, located in the north Engineering campus, takes the place of Everitt Laboratory. And besides offering almost twice the space, the $95 million building is designed to meet “net zero energy” standards.

Department Head Bill Sanders says when all the equipment is installed, the new ECE building should be the most energy efficient of any major building on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

"There will be solar panels on the top of the building", said Sanders. "There are special heating and cooling systems that are very efficient. And there are special shades for the windows, that will let light in to warm the building when it needs to be warmed, and keep light out, to keep the building from warming up, when it shouldn’t be warmed up."

Meanwhile, the building also provides new facilities not previously available on campus --- including a nano-fabrication laboratory that’s the first of its kind anywhere to be designed for undergraduate use.

The University of Illinois' ECE building will host a formal building dedication on October 10th and open house on October 25th.