Emory Report
February 4, 2008
Volume 60, Number 18

   
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February 4, 2008
At Founders Week: Unlike old halls, new housing is LEED-ing edge

By David payne

This summer, Emory opens the second phase of its freshman housing complex, Freshman Halls 2 and 3, on the edge of McDonough Field. The new residence halls are being built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ‘gold’ standards, the first residence halls of their kind in Georgia. Below are some of the sustainability features.

Resident halls conservation details past and present:

• Dobbs Hall windows were single paned. The new windows are double paned and have a low solar reflectance index.

• The original Dobbs Hall was heated with radiators, and cooled naturally with open windows.

• Dobbs Hall previously used incandescent light bulbs. The new halls will use fluorescent lighting or compact fluorescent light bulbs.

• Dobbs Hall was built with standard plumbing. The new halls will conserves water with dual flush toilets, low flow shower heads and faucets, and community bathroom sinks with automatic shut off sensors.

• Roof storm water and surface water will be captured and reused in residence hall toilets.

• Solar panels will provide the power to pump stored water for use in the toilets.

• Active dimming and daylight controls will be used to reduce energy use.

• Roof tiles with a low solar reflectance index will reflect the heat to help keep energy costs down, and decrease temperatures, which lead to ozone pollution.

• Each room will have a thermostat to control temp-eratures between 70 and 78 degrees and energy monitors will enable energy consumption tracking.

• Regionally produced materials will be used and both halls will incorporate materials with a high-recycled content and low emissions.