Already racking up multiple awards, Wake Technical Community College’s central energy plant is not only electrifying classrooms and equipment for its more than 70,000 students, it’s teaching them about geothermal and solar energy too.

The plant is the first building for the school’s new, 103-acre technology- and workforce-focused campus. The project included sitework of 56 acres to support campus development. The use of sustainable building materials, rooftop solar panels, high-efficiency lighting and low volatile organic compound materials and the addition of electric vehicle charging stations raised the project’s holistic sustainability accomplishments to the next level.

The plant features almost 300 500-ft-deep geothermal wells and 56 miles of piping, a system set to use one-third less energy and emit half as much carbon than traditional boiler/chiller setups. A total of 306 high-efficiency solar panels can produce 161,000 kWh annually, enough to power 15 homes.

Photo by Keith Isaacs Photography

High-performance windows bring natural views and an abundant amount of daylight into the facility, while drought-tolerant native plants, pervious hardscaping and solar lighting add to the sustainable features at the plant.

Instead of the normal, unsightly mechanical area that usually comes to mind for energy plants, Wake Tech’s facility was designed and constructed to be a campus showpiece as well as a training facility and student learning environment, requiring a high level of quality control.

The project team utilized 3D building information modeling software and close coordination with subcontractors to ensure that each run was straight and each valve aligned perfectly.

In a letter, Jeffrey J. Carter, Wake Tech’s vice president of facilities, described the central energy plant as a “game-changing innovation in engineering and sustainability,” saying, “despite facing coordination challenges and supply chain pressures, [Skanska] persevered to deliver an unmatched achievement in green building.”

Photo by Keith Isaacs Photography

The plant is expected to save Wake Tech around $18,000 in annual energy costs and achieved a Four Green Globes rating, the highest possible Green Globes rating. It’s the first facility in North Carolina to achieve such a rating.

Carter also notes awards for the “absolute triumph” of a project have already piled up, including the 2023 City of Raleigh Climate Action award and the DBIA Southeast Region Project of the Year, the Green Building Initiative’s 2023 Project of the Year among others.

“This project represents a significant step toward a greener future for Wake Tech and our community,” Carter adds.

Managing the rest of the large site added an extra challenge to the project, with Skanska being the first contractor on site and the site coordinator, orchestrating cooperation between three other contractors, Skanska’s team and Wake Tech.

It was crucial that the team maintained its challenging schedule as it was responsible for readying building pads across the new campus in time for work to start on other projects. Rock unearthed from grading and development at the site was used for roadway sub-base instead of hauling it out and bringing in new material.