UMass Amherst to Celebrate Opening of Crotty Hall

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
 
DATE:         Wednesday, March 22
TIME:          1:30 p.m.
WHAT:        Opening of Crotty Hall, new net-zero-energy home of the economics department
WHERE:     Crotty Hall, 412 North Pleasant St., Amherst
 
The Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will formally open Crotty Hall, a 16,800-square-foot academic building housing 35 offices and four conference rooms.

Designed by architect Sigrid Miller-Pollin of the Architecture Department and built with a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor, the building is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes and is the first net-zero building on campus.

Scheduled speakers include:

• Kumble Subbaswamy, UMass Amherst chancellor
• Sigrid Miller Pollin, architect
• Michael Ash, economics department chairman
• Members of the skilled trades who worked on the building
• James Crotty, professor of economics emeritus
• Pamela Crotty, UMass Amherst alumnus and registered nurse

There will be a brief presentation about the building’s energy conservation and production features followed by a tour of the rooftop solar panels and energy systems in the basement.