Work has started on a new $115 million facility for the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University.
The majority of the funding for the four-story, 145,000 square-foot building comes from the Building Our Future Bond Act, which the New Jersey Legislature passed in 2012. Gov. Chris Christie attended the recent groundbreaking ceremony, according to the Associated Press.
A modular design and versatile infrastructure were chosen so the configuration of labs and classrooms can adapt as new technologies emerge and the needs of students and faculty evolve, according to the university. Rutgers intends to use the new facility to expand its research in drug design, alternative energy, biomaterials and nanotechnology.
The new building, which is expected to be finished by the fall of 2016, will include a microscopy suite, a chemistry clean room, and laboratories for optical spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography.
Rutgers will seek LEED Gold certification for the new facility.
