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Academic Centers for Athletes Draw Donors
More than a dozen university athletics programs have added lavish new facilities in recent years, and academic-services budgets are soaring, a Chronicle survey finds. (Photograph courtesy of Texas A&M U.)
College Employees Value Campus Environment, Survey Finds
When a Chronicle survey asked college employees what they value about their jobs, they put the physical environment in which they work at the top of the list.
Rise in Tornadoes, Floods Poses Risk to Colleges
What if the sort of extreme weather that has left the University of Iowa inundated in floodwaters is not a freak event? What if it is a sign of things to come? (Photograph by AP Images)
Other News
New campus buildings
Multimedia
A Green Building as a Billboard for Science
(A 2006 Chronicle video)
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About Buildings & Grounds
Buildings & Grounds is written by Scott Carlson (left) and Lawrence Biemiller (right). Scott Carlson writes about architecture, facilties, energy, and sustainability, among other topics. Lawrence Biemiller writes about architecture and facilities and contributes to Notes from Academe. What's happening on your campus? Let us know.
Energy-Efficient House at Furman U. to Feature New Technology
This house, now under construction at Furman U., is not your ordinary Southern manor (Furman U. image)
Furman University will be in high Southern style when its Cliffs Cottage lands in the pages of Southern Living, perhaps sometime next year. But it may differ from some of the McMansion-style houses that appear in the home magazine. The model home Furman is building will be green and tricked out with all sorts of energy-efficient technology.
The house will be a showcase green design and construction methods, and it will be certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Ed Marshall, director of special projects at Furman, says the house will feature geothermal heat pumps, water cisterns, tankless water heating, spray-foam insulation, nontoxic building materials, and an array of solar panels from different manufacturers. The house will be used to test some new building technologies.
Recently, Duke Energy gave the university $1.5-million to use for energy technologies in the house. An energy-management system manufactured by GridPoint might be added to the home. Mr. Marshall said that the home might also include an electric car, which could be used part of the time to power the home.
Mr. Marshall said that countless companies have called the university trying to sell a supposedly green product to be featured in the house. With a little digging, he and his colleagues often find that the products aren’t nearly as green as the companies claim.
The home, which is now under construction, will be finished next year. It will be open for public tours until 2009, when it will become Furman’s Center for Sustainability.
Scott Carlson | Wednesday November 14, 2007 | Permalink | Contact us
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