The new Electrical and Computer Engineering building (New ECE building), which began construction on January 13, 2012 and will be operational starting the fall semester of 2014, will be a unique green building on the University of Illinois campus. It is designed to be the most energy efficient engineering building in the world and is targeting LEED platinum certification, the highest rating for efficiency. With the full planned solar energy complement, the building is 
projected to achieve net zero energy status. The facility will be the largest, or one of the two largest net-zero energy buildings in the United States. The contender for this ranking is the National Renewal Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. The New ECE building will be sustainable, i.e., it will be a facility that supports all its own energy needs--on average over each year-leaving no carbon or fossil consumption footprint. Although the ECE building design itself is 
intended to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the energy objectives go far beyond this rating to true energy sustainability. It will be the first large structure in Illinois to target this type of sustainability. This is especially significant in a comprehensive combined classroom/ research/office facility that includes, among many advanced features, an energy-intensive instructional clean room.