We are challenged with building construction that was not built with energy savings or sustainability in mind. We are currently looking at ways to retrofit the current residence halls to allow for each building to be electrically metered. This will allow us to share the electrical use (on a web site) and challenge the students to reduce their use. There is a senior design project working on this idea in the Kate Gleason residence hall. We are upgrading the heating system supply to the residence halls over the next 2 years. The existing 40+ year old system will be replaced with high efficient boilers, controls and pumps. We will reduce our boiler emissions and our gas consumption. The gas meters will also be connected to a web site to allow the students to see the gas load in each building.

For new apartment construction, our intent is to incorporate green design materials, metered apartments and eco-friendly heating and cooling (geothermal heat pumps). Geothermal heat pumps use the earth to add or reject heat into a piping system that provides heating and cooling. Within the coming months we will be conducting research and testing the thermal properties of the earth to determine if this is a viable system for this project.

Sustainable Living Competition: “Greeks Go Green!”

In a collaborative effort to increase environmental consciousness and reduce the current strains on energy resources within the on-campus housing community, Housing Operations and members of Apartment Life are organizing a utility conservation competition to occur between the fraternities and sororities residing in the houses on Greek Row. The competition is designed to promote sustainable living habits by providing incentives for students to limit their collective energy consumption use. This program will provide tangible benefits, in the form of energy savings, for the Institute.