December 21, 2015
...AND CHEAPER...:
A small New England college goes 100 percent solar : Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., will soon be home to a 'living building' and become the only college generating 100 percent of its electricity from solar panels. (Annika Fredrikson, DECEMBER 21, 2015, CS Monitor)
Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., will soon be home to a "living building" and the only college generating 100 percent of its electricity from solar panels.The Living Building Challenge is a rigorous set of standards that requires net-zero energy, waste, and water systems, as well as sustainable, local construction materials. Only eight self-sustaining buildings in the world have achieved this certification. Hampshire's R.W. Kern Center, a 17,000-square-foot campus center that will host high-tech classrooms, admissions and financial aid offices, and social space will be the ninth. [...]Designed and built by two local firms, the center will cost $9 million to construct but will end up essentially paying for itself with the money saved in its operation.
Posted by Orrin Judd at December 21, 2015 2:48 PM