University at Albany officials have gotten a good look at a new building that will focus on, among other things, emergency preparedness and disaster response. State University of New York Chancellor Kristina Johnson says it will be home to the statewide sensor network that predicts weather.

"What this center and college will be able to do to to help people to see what's really going to happen so that they can leave in enough time," Johnson said.

UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez says seeing the building rise is exciting for the future of emergency prepardness.

"With the CHEC, the college, we also aim to help people respond and prepare and focus on disaster mitigation and resilliancy," adds Rodríguez.

The Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex is only about 40 percent complete, but school officials say construction is both ahead of schedule and under budget.

The complex is scheduled to open in the fall semester of 2021. It will also, according to a SUNY press release, achieve net zero carbon emissions and use energy efficiency to reduce building energy costs by approximately 70 percent.

In addition to the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, the complex will also contain the Mesonet weather detection system and the school's Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences; chemistry research labs; the Department of Environmental and Sustainable Engineering; and other business development offices.