Construction is set to begin in May 2013 with substantial completion in November 2013 and final completion in May 2015, according to the meeting agenda.

Lynda Boomer, an energy and environmental engineer at the MSU Physical Plant, said most of the renovations will be within the building, and it will remain open and running during construction.

“It’s kind of like doing the open heart surgery while the heart is still pumping blood,” Boomer said. “The life of the building is still going to be going on, even during the construction.”

Retrofitting will include adding insulation to the interior as needed and creating an air quality measuring system for the laboratories, among other projects to make the building more energy efficient, Boomer said.

Anthony Hall is one of the first buildings on campus to be renovated as part of the Better Buildings Challenge, an energy reconstruction plan that aims to decrease energy use by 20 percent in all 20 million square feet of campus by 2020, Boomer said.

Within the next eight to ten years, Boomer said MSU will be looking to commission all of the major buildings on campus, about 110, with retrofits similar to the ones Anthony will be receiving.

Psychology sophomore Zach Darmon is happy to see energy efficiency receiving university funding.

“You have to teach people at college during this age how important it is to recycle and care about the environment,” Darmon said. “If you learn it now, then after college you can also maybe maintain it.”

MSU Trustee Joel Ferguson said the building challenge is part of MSU’s greater energy plan.

“We want everything (to be) the state of the art when it comes to energy efficiency,” Ferguson said.

Jennifer Battle, director of campus sustainability, said the university is on track to meet its 2015 goals of the Energy Transition Plan.

Goals for improving the campus’ physical environment include reducing greenhouse emissions by 30 percent and increasing campus renewable energy by 15 percent, Battle said.

As of June 2012, MSU was down to 14 percent in reducing greenhouse emissions and has moved toward renewable energy by two percent, Battle said. Since the report was released, MSU also has installed a geothermal energy system and an anaerobic digester that have added to MSU’s renewable energy sources.