The EcoHouse gives students a unique opportunity to explore practical green-living lifestyles, to test the effectiveness of new green technologies, and to work with community partners to develop better resources on green renovations and sustainable lifestyles. In addition, once it is equipped with a planned state-of-the-art energy monitoring system, the house will function as a "live-in" laboratory for testing the energy savings and cost-effectiveness of various renovations and green technologies. Such a system will allow the EcoHouse to provide empirical data on the performance of various house systems that we can then share with many others. The house is also rapidly becoming an information clearinghouse, fostering discussions about sustainability by connecting interested homeowners with relevant community organizations and efficiency resources. In the future, EcoHouse residents will host various events, skill-shares, and workshops, and will develop a comprehensive web site to help build connections between on and off-campus resources. Still in its very early stages, Project EcoHouse is in continual development and guided by an ambitious vision.
The main renovations we made were:
- Paperstone counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom (comparable to granite in pricing)
- Energy (and cost) efficient appliances
- Dual flush toilets (down is 1.1 gallons, up is 1.6 gallons)
- aerators for the sink and shower heads (standard in all the dorms)
- solar tube in the bathroom for lighting (past residents have mistakenly thought the electric light was on because the tube is that bright!)
- solar hot water (which serves as a prewarmer for a natural gas water heater... when the water is hot enough the gas never turns on)
- new roof made of stone coated steel shingles
- rain barrels which are used to water the community garden near by (and since our roof isn't made out of asphalt, we can use the water on vegetables without risk of hydrocarbons!)
Since then we have also added a sustainable perennial garden.
