2008 Woodie Awards
Ecological-themed house takes root on language row
From the outside, it's not particularly unique. It appears to be just another regular home next to Macalester's language houses. Even the inside of the house is unremarkable. In fact, the only two things that may reveal its purpose are two black panels on
By: Peter Wright
Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: News
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From the outside, it's not particularly unique. It appears to be just another regular home next to Macalester's language houses. Even the inside of the house is unremarkable. In fact, the only two things that may reveal its purpose are two black panels on the garage roof and a worm bin in the basement. It is EcoHouse, Macalester's newest themed-housing option, and although from the outside it may appear to be simply another housing option, it has a larger purpose than most.
Plans for the house started in the summer of 2006 when Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Chris Wells, was trying to think of a good way to raise money for the Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF). Wells wanted a project that could receive grants, and he was planning to create something off campus when Tom Welna, Director of Macalester's High Winds Fund, suggested he should design something on campus where students could be involved.
Wells said the ultimate vision for the house is comprised of two main goals. The first, he said, is to provide a place for students to live and think conscientiously about the environment. The second is to turn the house into a live-in lab that would make scientific data about the house and its sustainability available on the Internet to any students or non-profit groups that want to use it.
"The whole project took off very quickly," Wells said.
By Feb. 2007, the administration had chosen a house to be renovated. Shortly after that, the home was added to the housing options for the 2007-2008 school year.
Wells said that with about three days notice, more than ten people had applied for the four beds in the house. The four students chosen were Austin Werth '09, Avery Bowron '10, Heidi Evans '10, and Rachel Brunner '10.
Once the groundwork was laid, the next step was the physical renovation. That task was left in the hands of Justin Lee '08, who acted as the project manager over the summer of 2007.
"It was pretty much left up to me to decide what was put in the house and what wasn't," Lee said.
Plans for the house started in the summer of 2006 when Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Chris Wells, was trying to think of a good way to raise money for the Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF). Wells wanted a project that could receive grants, and he was planning to create something off campus when Tom Welna, Director of Macalester's High Winds Fund, suggested he should design something on campus where students could be involved.
Wells said the ultimate vision for the house is comprised of two main goals. The first, he said, is to provide a place for students to live and think conscientiously about the environment. The second is to turn the house into a live-in lab that would make scientific data about the house and its sustainability available on the Internet to any students or non-profit groups that want to use it.
"The whole project took off very quickly," Wells said.
By Feb. 2007, the administration had chosen a house to be renovated. Shortly after that, the home was added to the housing options for the 2007-2008 school year.
Wells said that with about three days notice, more than ten people had applied for the four beds in the house. The four students chosen were Austin Werth '09, Avery Bowron '10, Heidi Evans '10, and Rachel Brunner '10.
Once the groundwork was laid, the next step was the physical renovation. That task was left in the hands of Justin Lee '08, who acted as the project manager over the summer of 2007.
"It was pretty much left up to me to decide what was put in the house and what wasn't," Lee said.
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JAMES LUNDE
posted 10/06/07 @ 8:05 PM CST
Interesting article. The Shaklee headquarters in Pleasenton Ca. has been designed for the purpose of no carbon footprint left. It has many features builders and engineers study at length as it is a first of it's kind in the construction of this type of building. (Continued…)
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