Green inside and out was the theme of the governor's visit to Utah Valley State College Tuesday.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., state representatives and the governor's staff toured the new Digital Learning Center at UVSC, which is set to open on July 1, the day UVSC becomes Utah Valley University.

"We appreciate your interest in turning all of Utah green," said UVSC president William Sederburg. "We expect further green things."

Huntsman joked that Utah Lake was next, which was visible out of the expansive windows in the DLC's Lakeview Room, where the group had assembled for the presentation of the Energy Efficiency Initiative report for 2008. The DLC is the first new state building to be built using new high performance building standards, a large part of the governor's Energy Efficiency Initiative.

"We are making a little bit of history here," Huntsman said.

The initiative's goal is to make the state 20 percent more energy efficient by 2015. So far, five building projects that were retrofitted to meet the building design standards in 2007 have saved the state tens of thousands in energy costs and reduced energy consumption by thousands of kilowatt hours. Fifteen projects, including the DLC, are underway. They are expected to save the state more than $500,000 in utility costs per year. The state is also working to make its vehicle fleet more efficient by using hybrid technology.

The Digital Learning Center, which will function as the university's library, is nearing completion. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on July 1 after an all-night celebration of the school's new status as a university. Right now, crews are assembling furniture and putting finishing touches on the building, where even the commissioned art pieces are coming into place.

"Just walking the halls here, even in its unfinished state, I am inspired." Huntsman said. "This is truly remarkable and extraordinary."

The Digital Learning Center, which has 42,000 square feet of exterior glass and views of Utah Lake and Mount Timpanogos, will be 65 to 90 percent more energy efficient than buildings built to current code and will save about $100,000 per year in energy costs over typical buildings. Huntsman said the savings are the equivalent of taking 140 cars off the roads.

"It's a very, very big deal," Huntsman said.

The thousands of square feet of glass are key to making the building efficient. Each window has been coated with high-performance glazing that David McKay, director of the state Division of Facilities Construction and Management, said will keep unwanted heat out in the summer and keep the windows from being drafty in the winter. The library also uses natural light from those panels to keep lighting costs down. McKay said the building's heating and cooling systems were also specifically designed to be efficient by using a heat recovery system that moves building-generated heat throughout the structure and a direct/indirect evaporative cooling system.

"This building does what I think needs to be done," Huntsman said. "This new center is a significant step in energy efficiency."

The Energy Efficiency Initiative report is available online at http://www.das.utah.gov/energy/2008UtahEEIReport.pdf.

• Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or at blusk@heraldextra.com.