COA BEAT
COA BEAT
COA’s Astoundingly Sustainable New Housing Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village surprises even its creators here’s green design, there’s official certification, and then there’s the human ecological approach to sustainable building. The Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village may be the first-ever human ecological complex built—and one of the most sustainable campus housing projects in the country. “It’s interdisciplinary,” says Millard Dority, COA’s director of campus planning, buildings and public safety. “It’s as much social as it is structural. We’re not just talking about the building, or what’s in it—you have to talk about the whole package together.” As part of the human ecological approach, everyone was part of the discussion at the outset. It’s typical at COA for the entire community— students, faculty, staff, trustees and alumni—to weigh in on a project, but this time the planning meetings also included Coldham & Hartman Architects of Amherst, Massachusetts, COA environmental consultant Marc Rosenbaum of Meriden, New Hampshire’s Energysmiths, and even contractor E.L. Shea from Ellsworth, Maine. To allow a strong connection between students—another aspect of the human ecological approach—the buildings were planned as familystyle units, with no more than nine students per house. Each of the three buildings contains two houses, joined by common space. What sounds complicated on paper already has become a small village nestled between Seafox and the Kathryn Davis Center for International and Regional Studies, across a little stream from The Turrets. This village, along with Deering
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The six residences in COA’s new waterfront student housing complex are fitted with triple-paned windows, composting toilets, metered showers and super-electricity saving LED lights, as well as carbon fluorescent bulbs. Heated by renewable wood pellets, these buildings are not only beautifully situated, they are amazingly kind to the Earth they are built on—and from. Photos by Donna Gold.
Common, the new student center that’s built within the 1886 Sea Urchins cottage given to the college by the Ryle family (see COA Summer/ Fall 2007), are scheduled to open in August. Early tests predict extraordinary energy efficiency, primarily because the buildings are so effectively air-sealed. With a foot of recycled cellulose insulation (shredded newspapers that don’t emit volatile organic compounds) and triple-paned windows, says Dority, “there is barely any thermal connection between the inside and the outside of these buildings.” The complex is so tight, that the college plans on heating the three duplexes—six homes serving fifty-one students—with just two residential
wood pellet boilers. That’s one boiler of a size Because COA’s students are so innately envithat would typically heat a one-family home, ronmental, architect Bruce Coldham found that heating three residences of seventeen people. certain energy-saving systems were simply redunSays Richard Riegel Burbank, who with dant. “COA’s student body has a uniquely reliable Samantha Riegel Burbank '00 owns Evergreen conservation mentality,” he says. Take lights. They Home Performance LLC, the company that projust don’t get left on, so there is little need for vided the insulation and blower door testing for occupancy sensors. “Why leave the lights on for a air tightness, “I think COA can make the claim pre-set period when the COA human computer is that these buildings are the most airtight of any programmed for immediate switch-off? This was dorm, perhaps in the world.” The tightness also a first for us,” adds Coldham. bodes well for the air quality “These are very smart system, allowing, he says, investments, economically “the heat recovery ventilaand environmentally,” comtion to provide superior air ments COA President David quality at the lowest energy Hales. “More than resicost.” dences, these spaces repreTo reduce the energy used sent our fundamental values in heating water, the buildas an institution. They’re ings have a heat recovery designed to meet the full system, using the warm gray range of human needs— water to temper the incomincluding fun.” After all, ing hot water. To make stuwhat’s more human ecologidents aware of usage, all cal than students from “I think COA can make the showers have meters. To Detroit, Maine and Mumbai claim that these buildings minimize water use—and planning a dinner for their are the most airtight of any maximize recycling—the household of eight, mingling buildings are fitted with dishes, laughter and converdorm, perhaps in the world.” composting toilets. sation as they sauté onions Ultimately, the waste from and chop carrots? ~ Richard Riegel Burbank Evergreen Home the Phoenix Composting Designed to enhance conPerformance LLC Toilets will feed the surnections, the three buildings rounding landscape. Here, have plenty of common too, alumni play a part. Abe Noe-Hays ’00 of Full space—because learning does not end at the Circle Compost Consulting installed the toilets; classroom door. At COA especially, relationships Ben Goldberg ’90 is the regional representative. enhance learning through assumption-challengThe building materials are mostly local, reducing discussions, observation and the kind of play ing transportation emissions while promoting that leads to immense creativity. Maine’s economy. Rooms are situated to receive And yet, visitors frequently forget about carmaximum sunlight, cutting the need for electric bon footprints, energy savings and composting lighting, which will be provided by compact fluotoilets when they step inside these waterfront rescent bulbs and LED, or light-emitting diodes, homes. They just stare out the window at the further reducing energy use. All appliances are ocean beyond and try to figure out how they Energy Star rated. might return to school—if only to live here for just one term.
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