Construction of the $125 million Tyree Energy Technologies Building began on 28 August. The facility is expected to provide a formal learning space for 300 engineering students.

NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly said “This building will bring together under one roof the University’s internationally recognised research and teaching in key energy areas including photovoltaics, carbon capture and storage, oil and gas reserves, nanomaterials, energy policy and market analysis.”

Mr Kelly said that the building will be a leading example of sustainable construction, with a six-star Green Star building rating, a gas-fired trigeneration plant for power, heating and cooling and a roof-mounted solar panel array utilising UNSW solar cell technology.

The project is supported by $75 million in Commonwealth funding from the Education Investment Fund and a pledge of $11 million from Sir William Tyree OBE, a UNSW alumnus and a major philanthropic supporter of Australian engineering and educational research.

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The project is expected to be completed by 2012.