The Project was designed to comply with a Certified Level according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System.

Craven Thompson & Associates was the Engineer of Record for this one of a kind project. Formally known as the Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Science Research Facility, the 86,000-square-foot building cost approximately $30 million. NSU used a $15-million federal stimulus grant and its own matching funds to build the facility. NSU was among 12 universities out of 167 applying nationwide to receive the competitive and prestigious grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. NSU was one of two universities that received the full amount of $15 million. Using the largest research grant in NSU’s history, the center is the only research facility in the nation dedicated to coral reef ecosystem research, which are the reefs and their surrounding environment.

There is space for offices, laboratories that allow for research collaboration, training, and staging for fieldwork. The goal is to expand research by current and new faculty researchers, visiting scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students.

On April 1, 2013 this project won Silver LEED Certification. This project won the DBIA award for Overall Best Education Project in Florida. In July 2013 this project won the National Design Build Award and will be formally announced and presented at the 2013 Design-Build Conference & Expo in November 2013.

For more information, please click on the following link: Nova Southeastern University Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center