There’s an interesting debate — let’s hope it’s a debate — brewing in Massachusetts regarding school construction. It’s been prompted by ballooning costs for the state’s most expensive school building ever: the Newton North High School, for which the price tag is $192.5-million, according to The Boston Globe. In response, Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill is pushing for standardized school designs.

Recently, the Globe explained Cahill’s pilot school-prototype program this way: “Cahill hopes the program will eliminate one-upmanship, which at times has prompted a spate of field houses, swimming pools, and other expensive perks.”

I suppose communities compete to attract residents just as colleges and universities strive to attract students and faculty. So one could imagine that similar standardization mandates for state-college and state-university...

The U. of Denver put up a new residence hall using materials familiar on campus: copper and brick. (U. of Denver photo)

More beds: The University of Denver opened Nagel Hall, a $40-million, 150,000-square-foot residence hall that added more than 350 beds to the university total. The building has been submitted for a gold certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, thanks to a number of green features, like efficient heating-and-cooling systems and recycled materials (including the recycled copper on the roof). The building continues a signature look — mixing brick, a copper roof, and copper scales on the facade — that has been the university’s hallmark for more than a decade, started under the chancellorship of Daniel Ritchie. During a visit a few years ago, I was told that these buildings are constructed “the old-fashioned way,” and...

ACUTA, the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education, has released a survey of green attitudes in IT. Granted, the number of respondents to the survey was around 80, so this may not be a statistically robust tally of green attitudes in college IT departments, but it may give some hint at what gets valued and what doesn’t.

We skipped right down to question 5, which asked what colleges had done to be more green. Three-quarters of respondents bought new equipment, while a little over half said they turned off power on machines whenever possible, and 20 percent reworked the network for simplicity and fewer devices. A vast majority said that they were recycling machines (what “recycling” in this case means is unclear) and that they were reducing printing.

The green image is a powerful one. About 25 percent of respondents said green practices...

A new fountain marks the main entrance to the State U. of New York at Albany. (Photos by Mark Schmidt, State U. of New York at Albany)

Whatever you may think of Edward Durrell Stone’s early-60s campus for the State University of New York at Albany, there’s no question that it’s a paradise for fountain fans. The vast pool that Stone put in a sunken courtyard at the heart of the campus is so important to the university that the whole community turns out for Fountain Day every spring when the weather is finally warm enough to turn on the jets. Students in swimwear celebrate by splashing around in the shallow water with beach balls.

Now the university marks its main entrance with a new fountain that’s entirely in keeping with campus traditions. Its jets rise out of a small cobblestone plaza in orderly groups that are a perfect complement to Stone’s multi-arched architectural...

ACUTA, the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education, has released a survey of green attitudes in IT. Granted, the number of respondents to the survey was around 80, so this may not be a statistically robust tally of green attitudes in college IT departments, but it may give some hint at what gets valued, and what doesn’t.

We skipped right down to question 5, which asked what colleges had done to be more green. Three-quarters of respondents bought new equipment, while a little over half said they turned off power on machines whenever possible, and 20 percent reworked the network for simplicity and fewer devices. A vast majority said that they were recycling machines (what “recycling” in this case means is unclear) and that they were reducing printing.

The green image is a powerful one. About 25 ...

The recent release of Sierra magazine’s list of greenest campuses got us thinking again about a question: “How do they come up with that list?” We have been critical of green rankings in the past — and this list, like others, sets off B.S. alarms. How did Oberlin College go from being the greenest school in 2007 to eighth place less than a year later? Harvard University, last year’s No. 2, didn’t even make this year’s top-10 list. Duke University, Pennsylvania State University, and, geeze, the entire University of California system — all of which were in the “10 that get it” last year — apparently don’t get it anymore.

So we picked up the phone and called Sierra.

We got Michael Fox, a researcher at the magazine who spent a few months working on this project, and he explained the methodology. He said colleges ...

Step aside Olympics. Which campus gets the green medal for being the most environmentally sensitive in the country? According to the September/October issue of Sierra magazine, that honor goes to Middlebury College. Sierra staffers ranked colleges and universities using 10 categories such as buildings, curriculum, energy, and investments. Middlebury distinguished itself, according to the magazine, by generating much of its own energy and recycling 60 percent of its waste.

The other top schools were the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Vermont at Burlington, Warren Wilson College, Evergreen State College, Arizona State University at Tempe, the University of Florida at Gainesville, Oberlin College, the University of Washington at Seattle, and Tufts University.

The magazine also singled out five campuses for scoring the worst in its rankings: The College of William...

The Maryland Institute College of Art will open the Gateway on Sunday. (Chronicle photographs by Lawrence Biemiller)

Baltimore — Even for an urban institution, the Maryland Institute College of Art has an eclectic collection of facilities. In addition to its main building—a 1906 Italianate palazzo—it occupies a former railroad station, a one-time union hall, several renovated industrial buildings, a former women’s hospital (where, as it happens, this reporter was born), and a 2003 academic building that looks like a geometry problem being solved in glass.

Now the college is about to open its latest structure, a sparkling 215-bed residence hall called the Gateway that seems certain to attract attention. Designed by RTKL Associates, the nine-story building will offer students not only expansive views of the city but also a...

I’m going to take a different tack this week, switching from the everyday built environment to the spectacular: Did you watch the Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies? Did you see the Coke commercial? undefinedundefined undefined During the new Chinese National Stadium’s very own debutante ball, Coca-Cola’s ad featured animated birds constructing their nest overlooking the stadium — which of course is known as the Bird’s Nest.undefinedIn case you missed it, here it is again:

undefined It’s a Coke commercial! About a work of architecture! That happens even more infrequently than the Olympic Games. undefined And it’s not even like this building has been around and beloved for generations — the commercial was aired during the stadium’s opening. The Bird’s Nest seems perfectly tuned to serve simultaneously as an abstract sculptural composition, a forward-looking...

A building designed by Cesar Pelli is the first green structure at the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (U. of Illinois photograph)

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has built its first green building, a $60-million College of Business facility designed by Cesar Pelli. Solar panels, a green roof, natural ventilation, and other features may help the 160,000-square-foot building save $300,000 a year in energy costs and earn a gold or platinum rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The building is also wired for the 21st century, with cameras that can record lectures so students can review material or see classes they missed. The building will open next week.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute will also open a green building next week — in this case, a residence hall. The building, which officials expect to be certified at the gold level, is...