From groups such as Student Council's Environmental Sustainability Committee to the College's Environmental Thought and Practice major, it is clear University students are becoming increasingly concerned about their impact on the planet. Now, the University administration also has taken steps to protect the environment, as seen in the approval and construction of new "green" projects - especially "green" first-year housing - on Grounds.
The University began to pursue green construction at the conclusion of the 2006 U.Va Sustainability Assessment. By early 2007, the Board of Visitors passed a resolution requiring all future University construction and major renovations to be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
In accordance with this resolution, the University's newest first-year residences - which will open August 2011 - are the first environmentally sustainable residence buildings.
The green dorms, Buildings 1 and 2, are part of the $45.5 million Alderman Road Replacement Project that began in 2002. Building 1 will hold 220 first-year students and 11 resident advisers while Building 2 will hold 200 first-year students and 11 RAs. A common building also is underway as part of Phase 2 construction, and all three buildings are designed for LEED Silver certification.
Among other features, these green dorms will have low-flow plumbing, variable systems for fans and water, and carbon monoxide monitoring, said Patricia Romer, Housing Division director for Plans and Programs.
Night motion sensors in hallways and rooms with motion sensors that turn off when rooms are empty also will be implemented, said Andrew Greene, sustainability planner in the Office of the Architect. Energy dashboards, such as the one in Newcomb Hall that tracks the building's energy and water consumption in real time, also will be added, thus leading to potential positive sustainability competitions between buildings.
But even though these buildings may have more features, the price tag associated with these residences follows the first-year flat rate policy because students will not be able to choose these residence halls instead of any other. All first-year students will still be chosen randomly during the same process.
The buildings also will mirror the South Lawn construction recently completed on Jefferson Park Avenue, Greene said, who added that these new sustainable buildings must be designed differently from older ones on Grounds.
"How green buildings deal with storm water and run-off, for example, differ from the way traditional buildings deal with them," he said.
The Alderman Road Replacement Project buildings' rainwater and run-off management system, however, differs from the South Lawn Project because it has a flatter roof covered in sedum, which are drought-resistant plants that absorb rainwater and slow down water run-off. Meanwhile, the water management system will be under the green oval field in front of Observatory Hill Dining Hall.
In comparison, traditional buildings have triangular roofs from which water runs off into streams, thus resulting in over-sedimentation, a form of pollutant.
"I think these green dorms and apartments are fantastic. Students have been advocating for more sustainable residences since I've been at U.Va.," said Sheffield Hale, third-year College student and undergraduate representative on the President's Committee on Sustainability. "One way they've been doing that is through efforts to build a Sustainability House which, like Language Houses, would also serve as an educational resource for the students living there."
It is not only first-year students that will occupy green dorms, though. According to the Hereford College's website, the residence area partners with a community mini-farm, in addition to constructing a waste vegetable oil fuel station and initiating a recycling program.
But the University is not alone in its push toward a new conscientious era of housing construction. Off-Grounds green housing such as The Greenhouse by CBS Rentals Corporation, a group which owns buildings on 14th Street, Jefferson Park Avenue and downtown, will be available beginning July 15, 2011, for 10-and-a-half-month leases.
The apartments are located at 219 14th Street NW and 212 15th Street NW behind the Corner. According to the company's website, the buildings will feature a reflective rubber roof, which will reduce building cooling and "urban heat island" effects. They also will have solar panels in the lighting grid for common hallway and stairwell lighting, which will use natural light during the day from skylight windows. The Greenhouse will use permeable pavement, allowing rainwater runoff to absorb into the soil, which will minimize the impact on water quality and sustainable drainage systems. For those driving electrical charges, electrical wiring will be available in the garage as well.
Prices vary for these apartments, with the cheapest deals at the Greenhouse costing $739 per month per bedroom for a four-bedroom, three-bathroom unit.
Though there certainly have been other successfully university green initiatives, changes in housing on Grounds - and even off - signal a major change in student lifestyles at an administrative level, lifestyles that are more cognizant of carbon footprints.
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