The Place That I am Actually Familiar with (BIF)

We finally went to the BIF. Yes, a business major's safe haven. The Business Instructional Facility. Aside from the modern exterior and slew of business majors studying in their respective groups and business frats in the atrium, there is a lot that we got to discuss about the building itself, LEED certification, and sustainability. Professor Hinders spoke a lot about sustainability. Many aspects of the BIF have tried to accomplish the idea of proper utilization of resources, whether it be saving energy, using products from close by, or otherwise.
For one, the BIF has a concrete base. This means that sunlight that heats up the ground also heats up this huge base of concrete, and diffuses through the wooden floor in the atrium to save energy on heat. On the flip side, this makes the building very hot in the summer. To counteract this, the roof was built strategically at such a position to block out the sun during the summer months. There are also deployable shades that come down over the south facing windows to prevent too much heat.
A critique that Professor Hinders had about the building (which, according to him, is part of his job) was the solar panels on the roof of the Deloitte Auditorium. I cannot remember their specific type, but Professor Hinders told us they are not the most efficient type of panels in the world. They can only produce as much energy as their least powerful panel at any given moment, as they are set in an array together. (Being the winter months, there was a lot of snow covering them…AKA not much energy was probably being produced.) Likewise, the have "feet" that penetrate the roof of the auditorium, which raises concerns about water leakage into the roof and the auditorium. Finally, even at full capabilities, the panels cannot even provide enough power for the auditorium alone. That's a bit awkward.
The last thing I found seriously interesting was the bike showers and changing rooms. We spent quite a bit of money building shower and changing rooms for bikers, even though Huff Hall, which is full of showers and locker rooms, is right across the parking lot. Why did we spend all this money? For a point in LEED certification. Interesting use of our monetary resources if you ask me.