Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - You've probably seen the giant new building nearing completion around the 690-81 interchange in Syracuse -- the Center of Excellence facility, by fall, will begin seeing some cutting-edge research.
A $300,000 federal grant announced Monday will help get the first project going. It's part of the $1.4 million in research grants awarded Monday by the COE for air and water quality studies.
One particular office on the SU campus is actually a lab used to study a variety of indoor issues.
Besides air quality, lighting is a major area of interest for researchers such as SUNY Upstate’s Dr. Usha Satish, who will now have the money -- and a lab even more state-of-the-art than the current one -- to do her research.
"Do we plan better when there's better daylight, do we strategize better under natural daylight -- so that's kind of what we're going to study," says Satish.
Nine projects in all that will be studied here and around New York shared in Monday's $1.4 million of federal grant money COE handed out to researchers.
Dr. Andrea Ferro, of Clarkson University, will look at how simple static electricity caused when we walk on the floor may churn up particles that affect our breathing -- and what we might be able to do about it.
Dr. Satish expects to begin her work in her new COE lab by September. That same month, the building will host a top international conference on green technologies for buildings and communities.
