After months of public jockeying and lobbying strategic consulting, this Friday marks the final deadline for applications to build a tech campus that will transform New York into the next Silicon Valley. That means you can expect five days of attempts at showstopping revelations from the universities. Think of it like an Advent Calendar, except with building details instead of candies and a chance to build on city-owned land instead of the birth of baby Jesus.
Cornell is first out of gate with its announcement this morning that its proposed tech campus, which it is building in a 50/50 partnership with Israel’s Technion, will feature the “largest net-zero Energy building in eastern United States,” at least according to its PR firm, BerlinRosen.
The specs for the 150,000 ft. sq. ft. building include “a solar array more than 3 times larger the biggest current solar array in New York City and “4 acres of geothermal wells, again the largest in NYC, totaling 400 wells, which are used to heat and cool the campus efficiently.” After combing through the (super sleek) designs, it’s hard not to think about how the RFP process itself, which is rumored to cost at applicants at least $1 million, might favor those willing to spend.
