Iowa State University will break ground on the first phase of its $90 million Biorenewables Complex today at 5 p.m., and ISU President Gregory Geoffroy will be atop a John Deere backhoe to help move the first chunk of land.

The first phase of construction will be the complex’s $32 million Biorenewables Research Laboratory (BRL), which will serve as the new headquarters for Iowa State’s Bioeconomy Institute as well as provide a central home for the university’s discovery, outreach and educational activities in biorenewables.

The 166,000-square-foot complex will be located on the Iowa State campus north of Howe Hall and will eventually include two additional buildings to house the agricultural and biosystems engineering department as well as an open atrium connecting all three sections.

“The biorenewables laboratory building is the culmination of an initiative launched by President Geoffroy to make Iowa State an international leader in biorenewables,” said Robert Brown, an Anson Marston distinguished professor in engineering, and Iowa Farm Bureau director of Iowa State’s Bioeconomy Institute.

The state of Iowa provided the $32 million to build the BRL, but the university says private funding will be crucial in completing the rest of the three-building complex.