Business & Education News - December 15, 2004

Healthy student housing

The University of South Carolina (USC) in Columbia is boasting that it has the world’s largest “green” dormitory. Opened in November, the dorm houses 500 students and is part of a 172,000-square-foot complex that includes an outdoor amphitheatre, a learning center partially powered by a 5-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell, and a turf roof. The new residence hall is expected to use 45% less energy and 25% less water than conventional student housing of a similar size, and it features the largest solar collection system for heating water on the east coast. The building’s heating, venting, and air conditioning systems are free of ozone-depleting substances. Other green features include special “light shelves” to deflect natural light into the rooms of the four-story building, as well as low-flow plumbing and high-efficiency clothes washers and dryers. The structure’s $30.9 million construction cost is the same as that of a conventional residence hall, according to university officials. “USC has demonstrated … that designing smart, healthy buildings can be accomplished without added costs. Furthermore, we will be operating the complex with significantly reduced utility costs,” says Gene Luna, director of the university’s student housing. The building was registered with the U.S. Green Building Council and is waiting to receive official Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. To date, only two universities have residence halls certified by LEED: Carnegie Mellon and Duke.