More than 3,500 student residents are moving into residence halls at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa during the week of August 19 for the fall 2024 semester.

“I feel excited, nervous, scared, but I’m excited to make new friends and meet new people,” said Lhizelle Banchiran, an incoming freshman from Maui. “The campus is huge so I’m kind of overwhelmed, but I know I’m gonna get through it.”

• Related UH News story: Hale Aloha Towers renovation completed, August 20, 2024

Incoming student residents gathered at the Stan Sheriff Center to check in, receive their room key, student ID and room information, and explore campus resources including employment, leadership and financial aid opportunities. As part of the move-in process launched in 2023, students could utilize the two-way shuttle service or drive to the residence halls from Zone 20 to reduce traffic congestion.

“We want their first experience at UH to be as comfortable as possible,” said David Akana, interim director of student housing. We wanted to have something where they know there are gonna be lines, they know it’s gonna be a little stressful. But at the same time they can feel welcome to the university.”

Jessi Arreola, another incoming freshman, expressed her ease in moving into her new home for her first year of college.

“I was a little overwhelmed at first, but once like I got settled and everything, everyone was so helpful,” said Arreola. “Right when I got out of my car, they packed my bags and took me up to my floor, and everyone was really nice. It made it so much less stressful.”

New renovations, amenities

Students moving into the Hale Aloha Towers will enjoy newly renovated lobbies and common areas in addition to new microfridge (microwave/refrigerators), which are now included in all of the rooms and or suite areas residence halls except the Hale Wainani Apartments.

“They put it in the fridge and microwave in our dorm, that was super cool. “And just walking into the front lobby it just looks so clean and so nice”, said Arreola. “To call such a nice place home for these next couple of months, I am super excited.”

A renovation project at University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� student housing facilities that will improve conditions for a third of the student residents began in mid-May and will be completed in time for the fall 2024 semester. The common areas of the four, 13-story Hale Aloha Towers are being completely renovated with new finishes and amenities inspired by input from student residents. New common area furniture is anticipated to be in place by the start of the semester or shortly thereafter.

The Hale Aloha Towers are exclusively for freshmen and house 1,040 of the more than 3,000 students who live on campus. Renovating the lobbies, mid-floor common areas and top floor kitchens and common areas will enhance the overall living experience for students by creating more inviting and functional spaces for socializing, studying and relaxation. The upgraded common areas will help foster a sense of community among residents, encouraging interaction and collaboration.

“I am thrilled for the incoming freshmen who will be the first to experience the newly renovated spaces,” said Student Housing Services Director David Akana, who is responsible for the project. “We recognized the need for areas that could better support the student residents and help them thrive academically and socially, so we want these spaces to be practical, but we also want them to be somewhere students are excited to spend time in.”

Upgrades across the towers

The project includes polished concrete flooring, improved lighting, ceiling fans and acoustic wooden panels (to help reduce noise) in the lobbies, mid-floor common areas, and 13th floor recreation deck activity lounge of the four towers.

These renovations are one of the many short term and long term improvements for student housing facilities.

The renovated lobbies will be larger after the existing mailboxes are removed and will feature a new reception desk, new furniture—including two bar-height study tables with outlets and chairs—and a big screen TV. New window screens are also being installed in the lobbies to support the natural ventilation of the spaces.

The mid-floor common areas, located on the even-numbered floors of each building, are being renovated to better support group studying and gatherings with new wood benches, additional power outlets, lounge seating, work tables and whiteboards.

The common areas and kitchens on the 13th floor of each tower will have new lounge seating, lawn chairs, picnic and work tables, a big screen TV and a foosball table. The kitchens will be expanded with a built-in bar-top along the walls, a family-style stainless steel table in the center and new appliances and stainless steel countertops. New study cubicles, chairs and lounge seating will be installed in the study lounges.

“As we developed the renovation plans, we wanted to ensure that the common areas in these facilities were enhanced in as many aspects possible, from study spots and places for community building, to numerous aesthetic improvements,” said Joe Lynch, a project manager from the UH ����ԴDz� Office of Project Delivery. “We designed with students in mind, so hearing from them what they would like to see or have in the towers was vital. They played a major role in the final layout that future freshmen will get to live in.”

The project also includes new plumbing lines to support a new water bottle filling station in the kitchen (following other stations that were previously upgraded in the towers); and the building elevators will receive new lighting and flooring finishes.

Student-centric designs

The renovation project incorporated the input from student residents on how the tower spaces could be better utilized. Interactive workshops were held in December 2023 to gather feedback from student residents on what they would improve or add to Hale Aloha towers, with the assistance of the Campus Design Lab, an initiative of the Office of Planning & Spatial Experience, and student project assistants from the UH Community Design Center.

“I spend so much time at Aloha Towers, and because we’re the ones living in these facilities, it’s really fun to see what the living space could be,” said Reese Harwood, a freshman who participated in the interactive workshops. “I’m glad I could be a part of this planning process, and I can’t wait to see what these spaces could possibly look like in the years to come.”

Unique color for each tower

A special feature of the project is that each tower will have its own splash of color, inspired by the island flower the tower is named after. Hale Aloha ʻIlima will bear shades of yellow and gold; Hale Aloha Lehua will feature bold reds; Hale Aloha Lokelani will showcase tones of mauve and purple; and Hale Aloha Mokihana will spotlight lime greens. The colors will be on the columns in the first floor lobbies, as well as on the 13th floor activity lounges and kitchens.

The University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s new Dean 104 Culture Lab unveiled this spring offers an innovative classroom space that is revolutionizing the learning experience for students and faculty alike. This semester, eight courses and 165 students are being taught in the newly transformed classroom. Courses range from political science to women, gender and sexuality studies, all aiming to foster a classroom community built through student collaboration in a unique learning environment.

Among the first to capitalize on the new space is Lisette Flanary, a professor in the . Flanary has integrated the Dean 104 Culture Lab into her CINE 405 class, an advanced course in documentary production for juniors and seniors.

“The new space has ignited a palpable enthusiasm among my CINE 405 students, fostering not only heightened engagement but also a surge in creativity,” Flanary said. “The collaborative nature of the environment, with features like movable furniture, writable glass walls, and a large touchscreen for viewing and critiquing our student films, has truly elevated their learning experience.”

Flanary’s class meets once a week for three hours, and delves deep into the intricacies of the documentary process, covering everything from research and story structure to shooting techniques and editing. With the introduction of the Dean Culture Lab, her students have found themselves immersed in an environment conducive to creativity and collaboration.

It’s perfect for creative media classes and we’ve been making really good use of every part of the classroom!
—Aria Kaneshige

“It’s about being comfortable and having lots of space for everybody to support collaboration and creativity,” said senior Alexandra Sullivan, who is in Flanaryʻs class. “The spinning chairs are great for our generation and it definitely feels like it was made for us!”

“It’s been really fun being in here, it’s perfect for creative media classes and we’ve been making really good use of every part of the classroom!” said fellow senior Aria Kaneshige, a cinematic arts and dance major.

Flanary encourages her colleagues, especially those engaged in cultural practices, to explore the possibilities offered by the Dean 104 Culture Lab. She attests to the noticeable difference in student engagement and creativity since incorporating the space into her teaching, which has also included the Sakamaki Hall Innovation Zone and .

Designed to be a learning base for courses that promote deep reflection on cultural concepts, practices and knowledge, the culture lab is conceptually grounded in the history of ����ԴDz� valley, with features that make it a unique space where sense of place invites students to be conscious of the cultural context surrounding the UH ����ԴDz� campus.

Dedication to providing innovative classrooms

“The Dean 104 Culture Lab stands as a testament to the university’s commitment to innovation in education, providing students with an inspiring environment to cultivate their talents and passions,” said Laura Lyons, interim vice provost for academic excellence.

While there are no new classroom projects in the pipeline currently, the university is eager to increase the number and diversity of collaborative classrooms in the upcoming academic years. Many faculty who have taught in Dean 104 this spring have also expressed their appreciation for Dean 104 and have to teach in the room again in the fall.

“Each semester, the aim is to make the rooms available to as many teachers as possible, with a dedication to keeping innovative classrooms as a core service at the center for elevating teaching and learning at ����ԴDz�,” said Hazel Gedikli, faculty specialist in the who was responsible for introducing the space to new faculty this semester.

The opening of the refurbished Alexander Waterhouse Sports Performance Facility will offer University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� student-athletes an enhanced training experience as they set the foundations for their pursuits with the Rainbow Wahine and Rainbow Warrior programs.

The celebrated the dedication of the renovated facility in a ceremony held February 13 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Originally constructed in 1994, along with the arena in which it is housed, the Waterhouse facility underwent a $3.3 million renovation over the past year and now features 24 Samson Power Racks and a new nutrition center within the 10,000-square-foot training area available to the department’s 500 student-athletes representing 21 sports programs.

“(The student-athletes) deserve it. It’s been a long time coming and it’s going to be huge,” UH Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Tommy Heffernan said. “Outside of practice, they spend the most time with (the strength and conditioning staff). So that’s going to be huge as far as getting them ready in the offseason.”

The facility includes more than 22,000 pounds of free weights and each of the 24 power racks are equipped with various modes of resistance training. The racks allow a student-athlete to complete an entire workout within that section of the layout, creating more efficient use of time and available space and allowing greater availability for teams.

“The thing that stands out to me when we do a weight room is the strength and conditioning is for everybody, and it’s used more than any other facility in our athletics department,” Athletics Director Craig Angelos said. “This is the one that affects everybody.”

Kahu Kordell Kekoa presided over the blessing which included remarks by Heffernan, UH President David Lassner, Angelos, State Sen. Ron Kouchi and UH women’s volleyball player Kate Lang, representing the UH student athletes.

The facility is named after the late Alexander C. Waterhouse, who worked with then-UH football coach Bob Wagner to develop the vision for the weight room. Waterhouse, a lifelong supporter of UH ����ԴDz� athletics, was the founder and chairman of the Nā Koa Football Booster Club and a member of the ʻAhahui Koa Ānuenue Board of Directors and was inducted into the UH Circle of Honor in 1997.

For more, .

Newly renovated and newly equipped Alexander C. Waterhouse Training Facility! A facility where championships will be made for years to come! #GoBows

— Hawaii Athletics (@HawaiiAthletics)

Construction began in October 2023 on a new facility for the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa womenʻs track & field team and soccer teams. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2024 and will include an NCAA-compliant 400-meter, eight-lane synthetic track and an NCAA-compliant soccer field located on the fields next to the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium where the football and soccer teams practiced.

The project is the second phase of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex $30-million expansion approved by the UH Board of Regents in August 2022. The first phase was completed in August 2023 and increased crowd capacity at the Ching Complex from 9,000 to 15,000 seats and included the installation of the Aloha Stadium video board. UH has added 12,500 seats to the complex since 2022 to be able to host UH football games after Aloha Stadium, the Rainbow Warriors’ home field since 1975, closed without notice.

During the expansion to 15,000 seats, sections of the track at the Ching Athletics Complex were used, creating the need for a new track facility and an opportunity to eventually bring the soccer team back to campus for its home matches. With a few exceptions, the Rainbow Wahine have played their matches 17 miles from campus at the Waipiʻo Peninsula Soccer Stadium since 2000. The new facility will become the soccer team’s home field after a future project tentatively scheduled for 2025 will add stadium lights and a scoreboard.

“This project speaks volumes about everyone at UH involved in the retrofitting of the Ching Athletics Complex to the UH football team home games,” said UH Mānoa Athletics Director Craig Angelos. ldquo;It was already a miracle to have the facility expanded and ready for football just nine months after Aloha Stadium was closed and now we have turned it into a positive for our soccer and track teams.”

The project includes excavation work to level the practice fields and the installation of a retaining wall, drainage and irrigation. The track will include a steeplechase water jump, two long jump/triple jump runways, two pole vault runways, hammer/discus area and cage, javelin runway, shot put with throwing circle and large high jump approach area. The track and field equipment currently housed at the Ching Athletics Complex will be relocated to the new facility.

A $57-million renovation of a University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� library built in 1956 will transform the four-story, 115,000-square-foot building into a state-of-the-art Student Success Center. Work on the major renovation project began in June 2023 and is expected to be completed in 2026.

The Student Success Center will be a vibrant hub of student activity that will encourage students to stay on campus, between classes and after hours. Three floors of the air conditioned building will be open space for student gathering, studying and socializing with comfortable seating, tables and ample electrical outlets. There will also be more than 30 conference rooms of various sizes for group study along with on-site academic advising departments, a computer lab and Student Store for food and beverages.

“This state-of-the-art center will have a significant impact on the student experience at UH ����ԴDz�,” said UH ����ԴDz� Provost Michael Bruno, an early champion of the project. “It will be very exciting when it opens as students will have a brand new facility where they can study, collaborate, learn from one another, take advantage of convenient academic services, grab a coffee and just be with each other.”

The Student Success Center will be located next to Hemenway Hall, close to the Campus Center and the Warrior Recreation Center. It is also next to the campus’s main city bus stop and right across University Avenue from the , the entrepreneurship center/student housing facility opening in fall 2023.

“We really want to create an environment and a place where students can thrive, and I think that’s really what is most important for us in this collaboration,” said Aaron Yamasaki, vice president division manager at Swinerton Builders, the Design Builder. “This is �鶹��ý’s university and we want to make this great school even better and this project will do just that.”

The project includes a rooftop photovoltaic system to generate renewable energy and help as the renovation project strives to be LEED Silver certified. A modest step towards meeting the 10-campus systemʻs goal of zero carbon emissions by 2035.

The center will house the College of Social Sciences Digital Studios and feature a large study space on the first floor that can host and livestream campus events.

It will also be the new home of the award winning UH ����ԴDz� Esports team. The team will have a modern gaming room to practice, compete and livestream competitions to the world. There will also be facilities for casual gaming available to all students.

Mahalo UH ����ԴDz� Library

The building became available for the renovation project after the agreed to relocate staff and materials in the now closed Sinclair Library to Hamilton Library.

“They embraced the challenge and worked with multiple academic units reviewing and assessing the materials,” said Bruno about the library’s leadership and staff. “We could not have done this without their cooperation.”

Building on success

The UH Office of Project Delivery is responsible for the project and for making sure it finishes on time and on budget. The office oversees Capital Improvement Projects large and small, including the Isabella Aiona Abbott Life Sciences Building that opened in 2020 and the expansion of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.

“A center for students was identified as one of the campus’s biggest needs and now it is our responsibility to turn that idea into a reality,” said Brandon Shima, Design Manager for the Office of Project Delivery.

Like the Abbott Life Sciences Building, the Student Success Center is a design-build project, where there is a fixed sum, single contract for the design and construction. Design-build projects are more likely to be completed on time and with fewer cost overruns, compared to the typical design-bid-build process. It is one of the many national best practices for capital improvement projects adopted by UH along with hiring highly qualified project managers and construction procurement specialists.

Read more about the UH ����ԴDz� RISE center.
To apply, visit the .

“We need to demonstrate to the State of �鶹��ý that every dollar invested in UH will be spent efficiently and effectively,” said UH Vice President for Administration Jan Gouveia. “We thank the state Legislature and the governor’s office for its support and know that we have to continue to prove that university projects are worth funding.”

Following the 6-year CIP plan

The Abbott Life Sciences Building and the Student Success Center were among the goals in the 2016 6-year CIP plan approved by the UH Board of Regents. The plan continues to deliver on many of its stated goals including a new $70-million, five-story facility planned for McCarthy Mall. The building will feature modern classroom and work spaces with construction scheduled to begin in 2024. The BOR approved a new 6-year CIP plan in November 2022 that aims to build on the previous plan and create more modern space-efficient facilities and outdoor spaces that leverage UH ����ԴDz�’s unique sense of place.

Read more about the Sinclair student success center in UH News

Updated June 18, 2023: The start of the campus shuttle service announced on June 15 has been temporarily delayed. The new start date will be announced soon.

Original story:

A pilot project between the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� and the (HDOT) will launch the State of �鶹��ý’s first autonomous electric “Min-E Bus” on the ����ԴDz� campus starting June 2023. This HDOT test project is the first under �鶹��ý’s Autonomous Vehicle Testing law passed in 2020 and will help the state meet its goal of achieving 100% clean energy by 2045 as HDOT transitions to electric vehicles.

UH ����ԴDz�’s College of Engineering is a partner in the project, responsible for collecting and analyzing data for HDOT as it begins to add autonomous and electric vehicles to its fleet.

“This is a milestone for the Department of Transportation and the state,” said HDOT Director Ed Sniffen. “We are doing our part to meet the state’s sustainability goals and make our roads safer. As autonomous vehicles become more widely used, the rate and severity of car accidents is expected to drop, and that will save lives.”

The air-conditioned, 14-passenger, AV Star All-Electric Autonomous Min-E Bus features state-of-art technology Perrone Robotics TONY (To Navigate to You) autonomous system and meets all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. It is also able to serve passengers in wheelchairs and as a precautionary measure, human drivers will be seated at the wheel and able to take control, if needed.

The HDOT Min-E Bus will provide autonomous shuttle service to UH ����ԴDz�’s upper and lower campus over the summer in the first phase of the project. Phase 2, expected to begin in the fall, will expand the service to the Kauʻiokahaloa Nui Apartments faculty housing complex near the ����ԴDz� Marketplace.

“This pilot autonomous shuttle bus project will provide first-hand experience right here in �鶹��ý and help us collect invaluable data that will help in our understanding of what the future of transportation and mobility will look like,” said College of Engineering Dean Brennon Morioka. “It will help the state better prepare for the necessary changes in infrastructure as well as policies to accommodate large-scale autonomous vehicle deployments in �鶹��ý. We are very proud of the role that UH’s College of Engineering is playing in this initiative that HDOT is leading.”

Professor Guohui Zhang added, “This project will provide our students with an invaluable research opportunity to use what they have learned in the classroom to serve our state and community. In addition to better understanding the innovative, state-of-the-art autonomous driving technologies, we will emphasize vehicle-infrastructure interoperability and community-wide travel connectivity in this project. Our students will use this autonomous bus platform to advance their research horizons in Artificial Intelligence (AI)-empowered traffic mobility and safety enhancement, as well as traffic digital twin modeling and formulation.”

The project is a natural fit with UH, which has set a goal for the 10-campus system of zero carbon emissions by 2035. Compared to a comparable gas-powered passenger vehicle, the HDOT Min-E Bus is estimated to save more than 660 gallons of gas per year ($3,133 savings/year if cost of fuel is $4.60/gallon) and decrease carbon dioxide by 13,021 pounds/year.

Autonomous shuttle information

The autonomous shuttle is for UH ����ԴDz� students, faculty, staff and affiliates. The Phase 1 route for the HDOT Min-E Bus will run every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting from the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. The route with 11 stops will take it through student housing, down East West Road and Maile Way, to the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center for Student Services (QLC), and back to the Kamakakūokalani Center.

There are 11 stops along the route in the following order:

• Kamakakūokalani Center
• Frear Hall
• Hale Noelani
• Hale Wainani
• Burns Hall
• Jefferson Hall
• St. John
• Varney Circle
• Paradise Palms
• Kennedy Theatre
• Gateway House on Dole Street

The route for a second phase is planned to run from the UH ����ԴDz� campus to the Kauʻiokahaloa Nui Apartments faculty housing located near the ����ԴDz� Marketplace.

Other UH ����ԴDz� units involved in the UH phases of the project include Commuter Services, Student Housing Services and Campus Operations and Facilities and the Office of Risk Management.

More than 350 guests gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the $37-million Academy for Creative Media (ACM) Student Production Center at the University of �鶹��ý––�±���� Oʻahu on November 18.

“It’s a fabulous, state-of-the-art-capacity building that will really teach the future to our students,” said Chris Lee, founder and director of the . “This is really the hub for creative media education throughout the ACM System.”

Related: New state-of-the-art Academy for Creative Media facility ready for students, August 2022

The facility will link complementary facilities and programs throughout the UH System and across the state as a catalyst for �鶹��ý’s intellectual property workforce. The facility features industry-standard equipment, including a Dolby Atmos 100-seat screening room and mixing stage, esports arena, post-production suites, emerging media lab, incubator space and industry-standard sound stage.

Creative media is fastest-growing degree program

The building aligns with the UH West Oʻahu’s fastest-growing degree program—the . The program embraces new media through video, animation, video games, social media platforms, apps and virtual and augmented reality. The degree has concentrations in , , and .

The Student Production Center is designed to stimulate �鶹��ý’s production and creative media ecosystem, including the state’s growing film and television production industry. �鶹��ý’s creative sector, which includes the film, music, digital media and arts industries, accounts for nearly 54,000 jobs across the state.

The new building serves as a connector between academic programming across the UH System and the delivery of hands-on experiences that will prepare students for jobs in motion pictures, video production, design and social media, as well as digital content creation, video game design and development, and the integration of storytelling and technology.

“This building means a lot,” said Joseph Baldueza, who received his bachelor’s degree from UH West Oʻahu in spring 2020, with a concentration in general creative media. “This program means a lot. It always had awesome instructors, a really good and challenging curriculum. Now it has a facility and the equipment to support what we already had.” Baldueza is now a production manager at Marine Corps Community Services �鶹��ý.

Dignitaries and celebrities attend

At the grand opening and blessing ceremony, dignitaries, students, faculty, administrators, industry professionals, celebrities and supporters enjoyed opening music by UH West Oʻahu students, MW Restaurant fare and photo opportunities throughout self-guided tours of the facility.

Program speakers included Gov. David Ige, Lee, UH President David Lassner and UH West Oʻahu Chancellor Maenette Benham.

“It’s about giving our students the best opportunity that we can to chase their digital dreams, and we wanted to make sure that they had a world-class facility so that they would pursue anything and everything their dreams could come up with,” Ige said.

The program concluded with a celebrity panel discussion on “Representation in the Film Industry,” featuring Mark Dacascos, �鶹��ý-born actor, director, TV personality; Bird Runningwater, Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribes, who guided the Sundance Institute’s investment in Native American and Indigenous filmmakers; Amy Hill, Japanese-American actress; Malaysian comedian and actor Ronny Chieng; and Filipina-American actress and singer Kimee Balmilero.

The panelists shared insights on the importance of diverse voices in the film industry.

“It’s so important for this space (of diversity) to be in existence and for us to just keep telling our stories because there is a huge, huge shift happening and it’s really, really exciting,” Balmilero said.

To see photos from the event, visit the .

For more to go to .

—By Zenaida Serrano Arvman

On April 5, the Board of Water Supply urged Oʻahu residents, businesses and government agencies to reduce water usage by 10% because of the Red Hill water crisis and the answered the call.

“We want to do our part in knowing the urgency of water conservation, especially with what is happening at Red Hill,” said Blake Araki, director of campus operations and facilities. “Our team has stepped up to the challenge and has done an incredible job of maintaining our beautiful campus while conserving water.”

UH Mānoa voluntarily reduced on campus water consumption by 10% and stopped watering large lawn areas, reduced irrigation, put new plantings on hold, postponed fire protection system testing that discharged water and instructed maintenance staff to address leaking fixtures with urgency.

The UH Building and Grounds Management has continued to reduce water usage while maintaining plant and tree health by watering landscaping when necessary and spreading mulch around campus.

The Mānoa campus continues to reduce watering large lawn areas by 50–75%, as needed depending on the condition of the area, and is reducing the frequency of irrigation for shrubbery by 20%.

UH Facilities Operations implemented a water conservation program to reduce domestic water usage for chilled water plant chemical treatment systems by approximately 25%. Domestic water usage for a chilled water plant can contribute up to 15% of the total building water usage.

Long-term planning

Reducing water usage on campus has been a collaboration across multiple units including: landscaping, campus operations and facilities.

Some long-term plans are to continue replacing plumbing fixtures with low flow fixtures; reducing make-up water demand on central air conditioning systems by consulting with appropriate chemical treatment vendors on various treatment programs; and reducing operating hours of the larger chilled water plants in buildings around campus.

Reporting leaks

Reports on water fixture leaks in buildings around campus have increased by more than 20%, with people being more proactive in filling out a report when they see a leak.

The UH community can report any leaking fixtures on campus by submitting a work request to the work coordination center at manoawcc@hawaii.edu.

Read more UH Mānoa sustainability stories.

Construction of the second and final phase of the photovoltaic (PV) canopy project on the lower campus parking structure was completed in August 2022. When the electrical interconnection is completed in December 2022, the PV system will generate over 4-million kilowatt-hours per year (kWh/yr) of electricity, enough to power 1,000 homes or 300,000 laptops a year. The UH Mānoa campus uses an average of about 120-million kWh/yr.

The project is one of the largest monolithic parking structure PV arrays in the nation and is the latest project helping the 10-campus system reach its goal of net-zero energy by 2035. Net-zero energy is when you generate as much energy as you consume.

“This project is proof of our commitment to our net-zero energy goal,” said Jan Gouveia, UH vice president for administration, who oversees the UH Office of Sustainability. “It will provide clean, green energy and save money while also showing our students and the people of �鶹��ý that the University of �鶹��ý is doing the work needed to save our planet.”

Related: First half of PV parking canopy project almost complete, May 10, 2019

Over a 20-year period, the entire project is expected to save between $11 million to $18 million, depending on future energy costs. The arrays have 8,110 modules spanning more than 178,000 square feet and provide shade for cars and pedestrians on the parking structure.

“The addition of photovoltaic systems represents our institutional value of sustainability,” said Miles Topping, UH director of energy management. “This project is one of many sustainability initiatives that will help UH continue to reach its energy goals. It’s the right thing to do, not just for UH or �鶹��ý, but for our planet and our children and our children’s children, and so on.”

The parking structure PV array is one of many at UH that are either underway or in the planning stages. The next projects for the Office of Sustainability include adding more PV installations to existing surface lots on the Mānoa campus and installing more energy-efficient LED lighting.

The parking structure project was constructed in two phases to minimize the impact to the campus community with the first phase completed in September 2019. The PV array supports electric vehicle charging on the first floor of the parking structure and will be used for energy research and education as a living laboratory.

See more Office of Sustainability stories.

New architectural renderings provide a glimpse of the $53-million student success center on the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� campus that will further enrich the student life experience. The Swinerton/G70 design-build team has been awarded the contract to renovate Gregg M. Sinclair Library and transform it into a state-of-the-art center with modern, comfortable spaces for individual and group study along with on-site student support services and academic advising. Work on the four-story, 115,000-square-foot, 66-year-old building is tentatively scheduled to begin in summer 2023 and completed in fall 2024.

Located next to Hemenway Hall, Campus Center and the Warrior Recreation Center, the student success center is projected to be a vibrant hub of student activity and interaction that will encourage students to remain on campus between classes and after hours.

• Read more about the Sinclair student success center in UH News

The design-build project was funded by the state Legislature and is part of the UH ����ԴDz� Campus Framework and Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) from 2020 that has been incorporated into the UH ����ԴDz� , a commitment—informed by regularly updated data—that campus projects represent UH ����ԴDz�’s core values as identified in the (PDF).

Design-build is a national best practice adopted by the UH Office of Project Delivery where there is a single contract for the design and construction with a fixed lump sum cost. Design-build projects are more likely to be completed on time and with fewer cost overruns, compared to the typical design-bid-build process.

The university system’s first major design-build project, the UH ����ԴDz� Life Sciences Building completed in 2020, was honored in May 2022 with a Kukulu Hale Award for nonprofit project.

An aging pedestrian walkway on the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� campus got a brand-new look while saving the university thousands of dollars, thanks to the hard work of students.

Located between the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center for Student Services and Saunders Hall, the 100-foot walkway became very uneven and filled with potholes through the years, creating a pedestrian hazard. More than 40 students from a construction materials course, under the guidance of Professor Amarjit Singh, took matters into their own hands.

After approval from Campus Operations and Facilities (COPF), students prepared the layout and structural and pavement design for the new walkway in March. The proposal was approved by the Office of Project Delivery in April. The COPF-Buildings and Grounds Management (BGM) Department helped with excavation, heavy equipment, installation of the rebar and partial placement of the aggregate subbase. The students compacted the subgrade and subbase, specified the concrete mix, and fabricated and installed the formwork. The students procured the rebar and lumber and various tools. Hawaiian Cement donated the aggregate and the concrete. Students arranged for a concrete pump truck and then assisted BGM workers to pour and vibrate the concrete. Hensel Phelps contributed two professional masons to make a perfect surface finish.

In total, the students worked with and gathered approvals from UH ����ԴDz�’s Office of Planning and Facilities, Office of Project Delivery, ����ԴDz� Sustainability Office, Facilities Management Office, Buildings and Grounds Management, and the Environmental Health and Safety Office.

Project completed under budget

The students initially budgeted $4,300 for a 40-foot walkway project. However, thanks to the Hawaiian Cement donation and other cost saving measures, the students were able to complete the full 100-foot walkway in approximately $3,500. This saved the university an estimated amount upwards of $40,000, if an outside structural engineering consultant and contractor were hired.

Making a difference on campus

Rumesh Senthilnathan, a junior majoring in civil and environmental engineering, was one of the student leads in the project.

“It was a good feeling to learn what it takes to turn an idea into reality in the real world,” Senthilnathan said. “I had a real taste of what it takes to get everything and everyone on track. The trick was to roll with the punches because nothing was perfect and will never be, but we must strive to make the finished product as close to perfection and humanly possible.”

Senthilnathan credited Singh, teaching assistant Jacob Passoff and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering lab tech Jonathan Imai with helping to supervise all aspects of the project.

“This was a great learning experience for students who will handle future large-scale construction projects in the state, country, or anywhere in the world,” Singh said. “There was great collaboration between the Facilities Department and the students. This project was a win for UH ����ԴDz� that got a solid walkway to high quality industry standards for minimal cost. The students completed the project well below budget and were ready for the pour one week ahead of schedule. Students learned strategies for effective execution of works. In the end, the stated purpose of the walkway is to improve life on campus one walkway at a time, as well as encourage student learning.”

UH ����ԴDz� Director of Campus Operations and Facilities Blake Araki credited Roxanne Adams, COPF–BGM director; Yosuke Jo, BGM-Landscape Services manager; and Brandon Shima, Office of Project Delivery–design manager with helping to oversee the project from start to finish.

This work is an example of UH ����ԴDz�’s goals of (PDF) and (PDF), two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

—By Marc Arakaki

A $41 million transformation project to revamp Sinclair Library into a state-of-the-art student success center is closer to becoming reality. The project is expected to be completed by fall 2024, with construction set to begin by the end of 2022.

UH officials will shortlist three design-build project finalists by the end of November and award the contract to the best value team in March 2022. By winter 2022, current Sinclair Library occupants will be relocated around campus to allow construction to begin. The center is expected to be open for use by fall 2024. Funding for the student success center was approved in the 2019–20 fiscal year.

When completed, the center will enhance the student experience by creating a vibrant hub of modern, comfortable spaces that encourages students to remain on campus between classes and after hours for individual study, group study, academic advising and tutoring, other campus services and much more.

Sinclair Library, adjacent to Hemenway Hall, Campus Center and the Warrior Recreation Center, is a prime location for the modernized center, delivering the type of space needed to keep UH ����ԴDz� competitive with other universities.

Related UH News stories:

• Sinclair Library transitioning into student success center, January 21, 2020
• Funding approved to transform Sinclair into student success center, April 30, 2019
• Sinclair Library to become center for student success, January 30, 2019

This work is an example of UH ����ԴDz�’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

A new addition to the lobby of the Administration and Health Sciences (AHS) Building at the is as aesthetic as it is exceptional.

The glass plaque from the (USGBC) indicates the AHS Building’s noteworthy (LEED) certification, a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership, and the most widely used green building rating system in the world. “The significance here is that the project exceeds the UH criteria for new buildings to strive to meet LEED Silver,” said Bonnie Arakawa, director of planning, facilities, capital improvement project and land at UH West Oʻahu. “The goal is to develop buildings in a way that will address sustainability from the design, maintenance and fiscal standpoints in both the short- and long-terms. Reaching gold was a byproduct of that effort.”

The AHS Building was gold-certified on June 16, and its new plaque was installed on September 2 in the lobby of the administration wing.

According to the USGBC website, projects pursuing LEED certification earn points for green building strategies across several categories. Based on the number of points achieved, a project earns one of four LEED rating levels: certified, silver, gold or platinum.

Among the AHS Building’s green features:

• The ecological design and construction work included bioretention systems and rainwater catchment for managing stormwater onsite and the construction of an onsite greywater treatment system treating the building sink water and condensate recovery for reuse as subsurface drip irrigation.
• All the water conservation gardens are interactive and can be utilized as educational features by both the campus students and staff.
• To reduce energy consumption, the building features an 89 kW DC photovoltaic system on the rooftop, high efficiency HVAC systems and 100% LED lighting.
• An astounding 97% of regularly occupied spaces are naturally daylit and 96% of those spaces have access to outdoor views of the beautiful Waiʻanae mountains and ʻEwa plains. Natural light is more pleasing, healthful and psychologically beneficial than artificial light. Daylight is also a highly cost-effective means of reducing the energy for electrical lighting.

Previous ratings of UH West Oʻahu buildings include LEED Gold for the James & Abigail Campbell Library and LEED Silver for the Campus Center, Laboratory and Classroom buildings.

—By Zenaida Serrano Arvman

Editor’s note: 2022 UH football home game schedule and parking information

For the first time in the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s 114-year history, regular season will be held on campus. That move will have an impact on parking availability on game days.

The shift to campus was made after officials informed UH in December 2020 that Aloha Stadium, home to the Rainbow Warriors since 1975, would not be able to host fans starting with the 2021 season. The move to bring football on campus has generated a considerable amount of excitement among the UH Mānoa community and many across the state.

For 2021, there will be . All will be played on Saturdays.

UH Football 2021 home game schedule

• September 4—Portland State
• September 18—San Jose State
• October 2—Fresno State
• October 23—New Mexico State
• November 6—San Diego State
• November 20—Colorado State

Preliminary parking plans

Parking plans are still being finalized, but UH Mānoa officials provided some early details of what to expect for game days.

Football parking locations:

• Zone 20 Parking Structure: The Zone 20 parking structure will be restricted to only those who purchase a “football parking pass.” Regular UH parking passes will not be recognized. Starting midnight the night before game days, the Parking Structure will be closed. Student residents and permit holders who normally park in the Zone 20 parking structure by the Ching Field Athletic Complex will be required to relocate their vehicles by 9 a.m. on game day.
• Zones 1, 2, 3, 4 (except near Agricultural Sciences), middle and upper 9, 12, 13, 17, 18 and 19: These zones will be restricted to football parking, and all permit holders are required to relocate their vehicles by 9 a.m. on game day. Regular UH parking passes will not be recognized.
• All green stalls are restricted to football parking only from 9 a.m. on game day.

Student and employee parking locations:

• Zones 4 (by Agricultural Sciences) and 5: All UH Mānoa parking passes will be honored at Zone 4—Agricultural Sciences and Zone 5—Biomedical Building parking lot on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Zone 7 and lower portion of Zone 9: Student-residents with Zone 20 permits may park at the �鶹��ýnuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge parking lot (Zone 7) and NOAA parking lot across from Frear Hall (lower portion of Zone 9) on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Zones 8, 21, 22 and 25: No changes.

At this time, we are anticipating a sold out event. However, restrictions on gatherings at the football games may impact the number of restricted stalls on campus.

Construction crews finished tearing down Snyder Hall on iconic McCarthy Mall on the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa campus on July 2. The project is on schedule and will be completed before the start of the fall 2021 semester.

Site preparation started in the spring, with the actual demolition of the 59-year-old, five-story, concrete building beginning on June 2. Crews will now remove the remaining debris and prepare the site for temporary landscaping.

The state Legislature has provided $70 million in funding for a replacement building that will include flexible learning and office spaces that support modern methods of online delivery, collaboration and advising. The project is in the planning phases with construction tentatively scheduled to start in 2022/2023.

• Related story: Eerie animal noises, world-class research part of Snyder Hall’s history

Snyder Hall’s former occupants are now located in the $65-million Life Sciences Building that opened in July 2020.

The Snyder Hall demolition marks the start of Phase 2 of the UH Mānoa Mini Master Plan that includes the construction of a replacement building. Phase 1 included the demolition of Henke Hall in 2017 and the construction of the Life Sciences Building in its place on the Diamond Head end of McCarthy Mall.

Project partners plan to begin work in late July on a first-of-its-kind, $70-million, six-story facility at the that integrates student housing and an innovation/entrepreneurship center, funded with private, non-taxpayer money. The university and are working together in a public-private partnership (P3) with the and Hunt Development Group to design, build and finance the live, learn, work innovation facility at the Atherton YMCA location.

It is one of a number of P3 and real estate projects UH is pursuing to more affordably build modern educational facilities and develop alternative revenue streams to support the UH mission.

“This project represents a new era for the University of �鶹��ý in several ways. It will provide a dynamic immersive educational and living experience to prepare students to push the frontiers of innovation and entrepreneurship as they become the foundation of a more diverse and sustainable new economy” said UH President David Lassner. “It will also be the first, but not last, of our major construction projects to be initiated without investment of public taxpayer funding. Our deepest gratitude to the UH Foundation and the dedicated private sector leaders on the UHF Board for generously sharing their time and expertise to ensure that the historic Atherton property remains a part of UH ����ԴDz� and for their commitment to UH as the economic engine of our islands.”

Tim Dolan, UH Vice President of Advancement and UH Foundation CEO said, “We are very happy to be a partner in this P3 project that will bring an innovation education hub to our campus community. Donors too are key partners in this ambitious project. Their philanthropic investments have helped bring us to this point, and their continued support is paramount to us leveraging all the opportunities this center will provide for our students and our economy.”

The 114,000-square-foot structure will integrate academic and collaborative spaces with student housing, including 219 one and two-bedroom units for a total of 373 beds. The new facility, located at the corner of University Avenue and Metcalf Street, will be home to the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) and will be modeled after the highly successful University of Utah .

In addition to living facilities, the 18,000-square-foot center includes co-working offices, meeting rooms, classrooms and prototyping labs with 3D printers, scanners, sewing machines and laser cutters. Students from multiple disciplines will have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial education in what will be a one-stop shop for UH programs supporting research, innovation and entrepreneurship, areas critical to diversifying the state’s economy.

“UH ����ԴDz� is one of the leading research universities in the country, and we must create an environment where we can transform laboratory research into applied commercialization opportunities,” said Susan Yamada, PACE vice chair. “This center will be an ecosystem to support UH innovators and a catalyst for entrepreneurial activity in �鶹��ý. Entrepreneurs don’t work nine to five, they work late into the night and on the weekends. Imagine having a space to go to, where you’ll meet other like-minded people, bounce ideas around, and find the resources needed to move an idea to the next phase of startup.”

The Atherton YMCA consists of the Charles Atherton House and the Mary Atherton Richards House located on the 1-acre site across the street from one of the main entry points to the UH ����ԴDz� campus, the Sinclair Student Success Center and Campus Center.

The project will maintain the iconic facade of the pink Charles Atherton House on the property.

Demolition of the gray Mary Atherton Richards House is scheduled to begin in late July. A resolution that would extend the boundary of the campus to include the Atherton property is scheduled to be heard at a public hearing before the City Council on July 7. The ����ԴDz� Neighborhood Board overwhelmingly approved the project concept in 2019 with a 9-1 vote.

The university and the YMCA have already partnered to allow the YMCA to continue to provide its programs based out of the UH ����ԴDz� campus at the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center for Student Services.

An extended reach excavator began tearing into Snyder Hall on the campus on June 4, 2021, marking the start of demolition of the 59-year-old, 5-story building. The demolition of the building on iconic McCarthy Mall is scheduled to be complete in mid-July.

The former occupants of Snyder Hall were relocated to the $65-million Life Sciences Building located at the Diamond Head end of McCarthy Mall after it was opened in July 2020.

State lawmakers budgeted $70 million in the 2021 legislative session for a replacement building at the Snyder Hall location that will include flexible learning and office spaces that support modern methods of online delivery, collaboration and advising.

• Related UH News story: Eerie animal noises, world-class research part of Snyder Hall’s history, May 25, 2021

Snyder Hall is the first of four buildings (including Holmes Hall, Keller Hall, Kuykendall Hall) identified in the �鶹��ý����ԴDz� Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) to be replaced or renovated because of age and condition. Another LRDP project, the $41-million renovation project to transform the Sinclair Library into a state-of-the-art student success center, is underway. LRDP completed projects include the demolition of Henke Hall in 2017 and construction of the Life Sciences Building at the Henke location.

The plan also calls for converting campus interior roads into pedestrian malls and permanently removing more than 50, one-story, wooden, portable buildings across the campus to create additional outdoor space.

This commitment to facilities improvement is an example of UH ����ԴDz�’s goals of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s Snyder Hall, scheduled for demolition in June, will be remembered for its world-class research, and for many, being part of bygone era when laboratory animal science was a common practice at universities around the country. As researchers made groundbreaking discoveries, former students and employees from the 1970s and 1980s recall the eerie animal noises echoing through McCarthy Mall, where Snyder Hall is located.

The five-story concrete building was built in 1962 for $1.5 million. Snyder Hall was replaced in 2020 with the $65-million state-of-the-art Life Sciences Building located on the East-West Road end of McCarthy Mall.

Snyder Hall part of largest campus expansion

Snyder Hall was among 37 new buildings constructed during the biggest campus expansion ever at UH ����ԴDz� during the mid 1950s to mid 1960s. Initially spearheaded by then UH President Paul Bachman, the buildup was supported by a new generation of Democratic lawmakers, who had just ended a half century of Republican legislative control. Many of the lawmakers who overrode a governor’s veto to fund the expansion with tax increases were UH graduates and World War II veterans.

Bachman died unexpectedly in 1957, and was replaced by Laurence H. Snyder, an internationally known geneticist. During Snyder’s tenure as president from 1958 to 1963, UH doubled the number of students, academic courses, and degree programs offered. He also oversaw the construction of the new buildings and the installation of the iconic pedestrian thoroughfare, McCarthy Mall, one of Snyder’s proudest accomplishments.

One of the new buildings, the Health Research Institute Building, was renamed Snyder Hall in 1967 in his honor.

World-class research

Snyder Hall was home to a number of internationally recognized academics performing cutting-edge research in biology and microbiology.

Here are just a few examples of the world-class research performed there over nearly six decades.

• Microbiology Professor Maqsudul Alam led a group that sequenced the genome of SunUp papaya, the first published tropical fruit genome sequenced. Alam also discovered in the Archaea and Bacteria, proteins which trigger responses to oxygen, for which he was awarded a UH Excellence in Research Award (2001). He also established the Advanced Studies in Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics facility, now based in the new Life Sciences Building.
• Microbiology Professor Phil Loh is credited with the invention of the field of shrimp tissue cell culture, which has allowed the study of viruses that infect shrimps. Loh also founded the virology program in 1961 and was the first person at UH to receive the Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research in 1965.
• Microbiology Professor Clair Edwin Folsome was world renowned for his studies on the origins of life, astrobiology and closed biosystems.
• Microbiology Professor Stuart Donachie’s lab discovered still the second only known species in a unique cyanobacteria order with the first having been discovered in 1974. The sample came from a cave in the Kīlauea Caldera, and provides an “edit” to the history of the evolution of photosynthesis. Donachie’s lab has cultivated and named many other new microbes from �鶹��ý.
• Microbiology Professor Tung Hoang‘s lab studies bacterial infectious diseases and developed a pioneering method for studying functional genomics of single bacterial cells based around a system called “laser micro-dissection,” funded by the National Science Foundation in 2008 and grants from the National Institute of Health. The laser system is housed in the Biological Electron Microscope Facility, which has its own impressive history.

Thousands of researchers supported by Biological Electron Microscope Facility

The Biological Electron Microscope Facility (BEMF) was established at Snyder Hall in 1984 by Emeritus Professor Richard D. Allen. Allen was world renowned for his work on the model organism Paramecium. Over the years, BEMF has been utilized by more than a thousand researchers from UH, local technology companies, state and federal agencies and other academic institutions. BEMF’s state-of-the-art equipment is used to examine biological samples from viruses, bacteria and other microbes, invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and materials science samples such as photovoltaic thin films and fuel cell membranes.

The facility’s mission to provide instrumentation, training and services to the broader scientific community continues today in its new home in the Life Sciences Building.

Frogs and monkeys and sea lions, oh my!

The Laboratory Animal Service (LAS) was located on the 5th floor of Snyder Hall, which included an outdoor patio area. The early 2000s witnessed a major reduction in live-animal research due to increasing activism and rising costs, with the last animals leaving the building in 2007.

A wide array of animals were housed there, including mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, cats, Xenopus frogs, owls and Rhesus monkeys. The Rhesus monkeys are apparently what made the most and loudest noises, which echoed through McCarthy Mall.

“The old-timers told me of some brazen escapes in the 1980’s,” said retired UH ����ԴDz� LAS employee Norman Magno. “Individual Rhesus escaped the pens and climbed down the adjoining coconut trees, entered Webster Hall quietly, and attended psychology and nursing classes with students without them knowing that a monkey was in attendance. I have been told stories like this on several occasions.”

Magno also said the “old-timers claim that sometime in the 1970’s and before the establishment of the animal advisory committee (now referred to as the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee), sea lions were housed in inflatable swimming pools on the 5th floor Snyder Hall Patio. Passersby often reported hearing dogs barking in the morning hours, that were actually the sea lions.”

Snyder demolition part of larger campus plan

The demolition of Snyder Hall will be the latest completed project in the UH ����ԴDz�’s Long Range Development Plan, following the demolition of Henke Hall in 2017, and construction of the now open Life Sciences Buildings in its place. The 2021 state Legislature approved funding for a new building on the Snyder Hall site that will have flexible learning and office spaces to support modern methods of online course delivery, collaboration and advising.

The plan identified Snyder Hall as the first of four buildings to be renovated, replaced or removed because of age and condition, and to reduce energy and maintenance costs. The other buildings are Holmes Hall, Keller Hall, and Kuykendall Hall.

Another project, the $41-million renovation of the Sinclair Library into a Student Success Center, is currently underway. The plan also calls for replacing campus interior roads with pedestrian malls, and removing more than 50 portable buildings on campus to create more open space.

This capital improvement effort is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.