A Bright Future for Huntsman Hall May Cause You to Remember Timbuk3

There was a song that was popular in 1986 by a one-hit band Timbuk3 called: “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades.”

It’s a song I may relate to better than you because I’m probably older than you are; because I spend a lot of time thinking about the bright future of Huntsman Hall, and because I happen to know that Huntsman Hall will be wearing shades when it is done. 

Huntsman Hall will eventually wear shades.

From the beginning we wanted our new building to be full of natural light. All those windows, however, can present some challenges for a building facility in a valley that experiences four distinct seasons. You see, a major job for Huntsman Hall will be to try to find a way to keep the temperature consistent, while using up the least amount of energy possible. The shades will help it do exactly that.

Take a look at the artist rendering that I have included with this post. Do you see the red arrow? It is pointing to one of the horizontal slats that will wrap around the building. Far from being decorative, the shades will play a key role in our energy conservation efforts.

There are some sophisticated computer models that have gone into determining just exactly how wide those shades should be and exactly where they should be placed to help us maximize their impact in the summer and winter. Without these shades, a lot more money would need to be spent on heating and cooling the building. We think those funds can be better invested in saving energy. And it is one of the key tools we are using to meet LEED requirements.

Maybe someday in your future you’ll be sitting in a classroom and looking out the windows at the Huntsman Hall shades. Perhaps by then you will have download this old rock and roll classic so you can sing along:

 

Ken Snyder is cool even without shades.

“I’m doing all right, getting good grades,

The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades.”

And who knows, maybe if you listen closely, it will seem that Huntsman Hall is singing along too.