As we noted recently, September is going to be a big month for the Syracuse Center of Excellence, the federation of firms and institutions that develops technologies and strategies to improve health, productivity, security, and sustainability in built and urban environments.

For starters, September is the month Syracuse CoE, in Syracuse, New York, will open its new headquarters, a LEED Platinum office and research building designed for use by businesses and other organizations specializing in environmental and energy technologies, and building innovation. The five-story facility includes more than 12,600 sq. ft. of laboratory space for biofuels testing on its first floor, and various combinations lab and office space on the four floors above.

Not surprisingly, the building also puts into practice features at the heart and forefront of green commercial and residential construction, including a ground-source heat pump, advanced heat recovery and reuse systems, natural ventilation, a system for monitoring outside air and controls for improving indoor air, rain water capture and reuse, and a green roof.

The big welcome

The true inauguration of the building, though, will be when it receives visitors from the 2009 Healthy Buildings International Conference & Exhibition, scheduled for September 13 through 17 at Syracuse’s Convention Center at Oncenter.

Healthy Buildings’ organizers say the conference is expected to attract thousands of researchers and other specialists in indoor air quality, built environments, HVAC, health sciences, public health policy, urban planning, mechanical engineering, architecture, and building design and management.

A signature event of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality & Climate, the conference will feature as its plenary speaker Eduardo de Oliveira Fernandes, an engineering professor at the University of Porto, Portugal, who specializes in building thermal physics and passive solar technologies, and serves on the European Commission’s working group on indoor air quality.

Naturally, conference attendees are going to want to see how Syracuse CoE’s new headquarters – which has space for rent – performs and looks. And it is hard to imagine a crowd whose interests are more in line with those off Syracuse CoE, where the three areas of focus are clean and renewable energy, water resources, and indoor environmental quality.

Click here for conference registration details.