EFS Profiles
Ecological Design Initiatives, Including New Ecovillage
Berea College
Berea, Kentucky
Purpose: Greening the Campus, Institutional Transformation, Sustainability Research
Please note that the copyright for this profile is retained by the institution.
Ecological design is the application of ecological principles to the design of sustainable buildings, communities and landscapes. Working with nature instead of against, ecological design promotes dramatic increases in the efficiency of energy and water use, reduces wastes, maximizes recycling and reuse, and emphasizes the use of renewable energy sources. Ecological design encourages the participation of all members of the community in the design process. The resulting buildings and landscapes are beautiful and desirable places to live and work. Nature is sustained even as the needs of people are met.
Berea College is a private liberal arts college with 1500 students. Berea provides every student with a full-tuition scholarship, admits only low-income students, and requires all students to work in a college job. As part of the sustainability initiative in Berea College's strategic plan Being and Becoming: Berea College in the 21st Century, the College is applying ecological design to:
Renovation of buildings to increase energy and water use efficiency, while improving comfort and usefulness.
Campus operations including heating and lighting systems, recycling, purchasing, grounds maintenance, and sustainable management of the College farm and forest.
Construction of student residences and teaching facilities.
Experiential education as students, staff, and faculty work together to design, construct, and live in a sustainable campus.
Ecological renovations are underway or planned for many buildings on campus including the Draper Building, the College's largest classroom and office facility. By optimizing the use of natural lighting, cross-ventilation, high performance windows, solar hot water heaters, and other appropriate technologies, energy use by the Draper Building will be reduced by two-thirds, while user comfort is increased.
Campus operations are undergoing scrutiny and change. The Campus Environmental Policy Committee is overseeing the development of a set of indicators of ecological sustainability for the campus, and will monitor trends in the indicators while recommending policies to increase sustainability. Reductions in energy use campus-wide are linked to the College's planned replacement of its coal-fired heating plant with a more sustainable system. The College currently recycles 35% of its waste stream including composting of food waste from the dining hall, and freshmen orientation and other programs are in place to increase this rate.
The Berea College Ecovillage is being designed as an ecologically-sustainable residential and learning complex to meet the residential needs primarily of students who are married and/or parents. The Ecovillage will include 32 new units of family housing, a commons house, the Sustainability and Environmental Studies House, and a child care and development center. By working with nature instead of against, the Ecovillage will provide a comfortable, safe, and stimulating residential environment to more than 100 students and children in a manner that is more environmentally sound than conventional housing. Specifically, the Ecovillage is being designed to meet stringent performance goals including:
* reduce energy use by 75%
* generate 10% of the Ecovillage's electricity on-site from renewable sources
* reduce per capita water use by 75%
* treat sewage and wastewater on-site to swimmable quality
* recycle, reuse or compost at least 50% of the Ecovillage's waste
To accomplish these and other ecological goals, the Ecovillage will incorporate a wide range of "green design" elements including passive solar heating, photovoltaic panels and wind-powered electrical generators, on-site treatment of waste in composting toilets, roof-top capture of rainwater for irrigation, and production of fruits and vegetables in local gardens and greenhouses. A living machine will convert the Ecovillage's sewage and greywater into swimmable quality water, which will be discharged into a constructed wetland.
Central to the educational function of the Ecovillage is the Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) House, a student-designed ecological residence for six students in the College's SENS Program. The SENS House residents will provide orientation and education for new Ecovillage residents, monitor Ecovillage performance and recommend changes to increase sustainability, and provide tours and educational programs on ecological design and sustainable living for campus and off-campus groups.
Van der Ryn Architects of Sausalito, California is working with Berea faculty, staff, and students to design the Ecovillage. Construction will begin fall 2001, with phase I - the married student townhouses - ready for occupancy by fall 2002. Construction of the SENS House and childcare center will follow.
Experiential education - learning by doing - is at the heart of Berea's approach to teaching ecological design and sustainable living. Students participate directly in all aspects of ecological design at Berea - planning, construction, and operations - and in so doing gain invaluable experience that complements their more traditional classroom training. The Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) Program offers courses and internships in ecological design. Students working for the SENS Program organize workshops and demonstrations on ecological design for the campus and surrounding communities.
This document was last modified on 02/20/2002 10:54:58 AM
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