Berea College will begin construction on what will be the most energy-efficient residence hall in the commonwealth of Kentucky, if not the country, in April 2012. The three-story, 42,000 square foot building – referred to as the “Deep Green Residence Hall” – will be constructed adjacent to Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant and will house 120 students in 66 rooms. Construction is expected to be completed by August 2013.

“This new residence hall will stand as the latest example of Berea’s long-standing commitment to ecological sustainability or ‘plain living’ as it’s stated in our Great Commitments,” said Berea College President Emeritus Larry Shinn (1994-2012). “We hope that this ‘deep green’ residence hall and the sustainable methods and materials used during construction will inspire others to reduce their carbon footprints and protect our natural resources.”

The construction methods, sustainability features and the usage of local and recycled materials in construction of the residence hall fit within the college’s strategic direction to meet the ACUPCC (American College & University President’s Climate Commitment) goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from campus operations and to promote sustainability as a role model for the community as well as students.

The first new residential facility constructed at Berea College since the Ecovillage a decade ago, this $16.5 million residence hall will be the third campus building to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The LEED certification denotes independent verification from the U.S. Green Building Council that a building is designed and constructed “using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health.” This residence hall is expected to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest rating for sustainable design.

In determining a building’s certification, LEED measures performance in several sustainability categories, including energy and atmosphere (energy consumption and monitoring and the use of renewable energy sources), water efficiency, materials and resources, innovation in design, and awareness and education.

“The deep-green features of the facility will blend students’ learning needs with the college’s mission to create a highly sustainable and comfortable residence for living and learning,” says Steve Karcher, vice president for operations and sustainability. “Student involvement in the design process was critical in identifying opportunities for education about sustainability in a beautiful, student-centered structure.”

To reduce the building’s ecological footprint, the residence hall will feature rooftop solar photovoltaic and solar thermal (hot water) systems to meet about 14 percent of the building’s energy needs; an ultra-efficient geothermal heat pump recirculation system; active daylighting; operable windows for natural ventilation throughout; high-efficiency lighting; a highly insulated, state-of-the-art building envelope; low-flow water fixtures; and real-time monitoring of energy consumption via a special building dashboard. The building site utilizes rain gardens, bioretention ponds and pervious concrete to help manage storm water runoff. Composting toilets and gray or rain water recycling systems were designed and planned for the building, but current Kentucky building codes do not allow for their application in a residence hall.

Also significant is that a number of recycled and locally produced materials will be incorporated into the new building. The entire exterior features 100 percent recycled content brick; much of the interior trim (door and window frames, molding) and furniture will be manufactured from trees harvested from the 8,000-acre Berea College forest; and all interior paints, carpeting and finishes are free of any toxic compounds to ensure good indoor air quality for residents.

The Berea College Student Crafts program is constructing furniture for each room using timber harvested by mule teams in the Berea College Forest. This harvesting method is more ecologically friendly and less damaging to the ecosystem than highly mechanized methods. “It’s very low-impact as far as soil disturbance,” says Berea College Forester Clint Patterson. “There’s just a little scuff mark along the forest floor where the log was dragged out and then some mule tracks.”

Berea’s Student Crafts program is constructing 267 pieces of furniture. “We’re building 120 desks, 120 three-drawer chests, and a number of specialty tables that are of particular interest for us because we’re using the wood that came from the site where the residence hall is being built,” says Tim Glotzbach, director of the Student Crafts program.

The residence hall will provide a learning/living opportunity for students, staff, faculty and visitors. Faculty and students will provide input on the artistic elements of the building, which will include color and art schemes, as well as integration of historic and student art displays. During the construction phase and once it is occupied, the Deep Green Residence Hall will provide opportunities for interaction that will inform and educate residents and visitors about sustainable practices and features.

The building has been designed in a unique, collaborative architectural partnership between Hastings & Chivetta (lead designers) and Hellmuth & Bicknese (sustainability consultants), both based in St. Louis, Mo., with broad representation and input from members of the Berea College community. The building construction will be managed by the Lexington, Ky., office of Cincinnati-based Messer Construction Co.

Construction of the residence hall is one of several construction projects planned on Berea’s campus for 2012-13. Other projects include: a renovation of the main floor of the library to house the college’s Center for Transformative Learning, renovation of a portion of the first floor of the Alumni Building to house the new Carter G. Woodson Center for Interracial Education, renovation of the old broomcraft building to house a college farm store, and an addition to the Middletown School to house the expansion of the GEAR UP and Promise Neighborhood programs.

Architectural rendering of the Deep Green Residence Hall (north side)

Related Links

• Watch a video news release covering mule logging and construction of furniture for the deep green residence hall
• Download full-resolution renderings

Gurney Norman

“They [computers] do not replace the accumulation of thousands of years of human experience that have led some societies and some people to understand the deeper questions about human life,” said Norman, acknowledging that wisdom, or “common sense,” as his coal-mining grandfather put it, could be found in abundance in people who may not be formally educated or technologically savvy.

Author of “Divine Right’s Trip,” originally published in “The Last Whole Earth Catalog,” Norman made his remarks prior to the awarding of degrees to 185 seniors.  An additional 54 seniors who are expected to complete requirements for degrees by September 1, 2011, took part in the commencement. Norman also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Berea College.

Awards Bestowed at Commencement

Awards were presented to two graduates and three college faculty and staff members at the ceremonies.  Each year, Berea College presents the Wood Achievement Awards to a top male and female in the graduating class who “have achieved outstanding scholarship and have made excellent contributions to the life of the college.”

In the class of 2011, the Hilda Welch Wood Award for outstanding achievement by a female student went to Phi Nguyen, of Han Nui, Vietnam, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in art and mathematics.

The T.J. Wood Award for outstanding achievement by a male graduate was given to Kevin Cavins of Totz, Kentucky, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree in business.

Berea’s highest faculty honor, the Seabury Award for Excellence in Teaching, was given to Dr. Robert Suder, a professor of religion at Berea since 1985. In 1991, Suder received the Sears Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award for leadership as a private college educator. From 1994-99, Suder served as associate dean of general education at Berea. Suder earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Allegheny College in 1965, a Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1969 and a master’s degree in Hebrew and cognate languages from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971. He earned his doctorate in Hebrew and Semitic studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973. As a scholar, he has dedicated years to archeological research in Jordan and has produced one of the most comprehensive on-line databases of Semitic writings currently available.

Dr. Billy Wooten, associate professor of communication and director of forensics, was this year’s recipient of the Paul C. Hager Award for Excellence in Advising. Wooten, who has taught at Berea since 2002, earned his bachelor’s degree from Berea in 1996, a master’s degree from Georgia State University in 2002 and a doctorate from the University of Kentucky in 2006. He served as president of the Kentucky Forensics Association in 2006, the same year the association named him coach of the year. In 2007, he earned the Dwight Freshley Outstanding New Teacher Award from the Southern States Communication Association.

The 2010 Elizabeth Perry Miles Award for Community Service was presented to Miriam David, M.D.  A physician and director of Berea College’s health service for almost a decade, Dr. David was recognized for providing health care to students, faculty, staff and their families and for her volunteer work with the board of directors for Mission Lexington, Nathanial Methodist Mission and the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary board of trustees.

Baccalaureate Service

Earlier in the day, the Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., spoke at the Sunday morning Baccalaureate Service held at 10:30 a.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel. Other activities included the Nurses Pinning Service at 9 a.m. in Union Church, a luncheon for students and their families in the Alumni Building and a reception on the Quadrangle immediately following commencement.

Speaker Biographies

Gurney Norman — Born in Grundy, Virginia, and raised in southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky, Gurney Norman graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1959 with degrees in literature and creative writing. There, he became friends with fellow writers Wendell Berry, James Baker Hall, Ed McClanahan and Bobbie Ann Mason. After a year of graduate school, Norman received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing at Stanford University where he studied with literary critic Malcolm Cowley.

Recognized as an authority on the literary and cultural history of the Appalachian region, Norman began his career in the U.S. Army before returning to his hometown of Hazard, Kentucky, in 1963 to work as a newspaper reporter.

In 1965, he returned to California where he wrote his two published books “Divine Right’s Trip,” originally published in “The Last Whole Earth Catalog” and later as a book, and “Kinfolks,” which earned the Weatherford Award in 1977 from Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association. Two years later, Norman joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky as an associate professor of English, a position he has held for more than 30 years.

In the late 1980s, Norman’s work moved from fiction to non-fiction and from print to television. Kentucky Educational Television premiered three one-hour documentary programs written and presented on-screen by Norman in collaboration with director John Morgan. “Time on the River” (1987) is a study of the history and landscape of the Kentucky River Valley. In “From This Valley,” (1989) Norman explores the history of the Big Sandy River Valley, with a focus on the valley’s rich literary tradition. “Wilderness Road” (1991) traces Daniel Boone’s route from the New River near Radford, Virginia, through Cumberland Gap to the banks of the Kentucky River in Madison County, Kentucky.

In addition to his work with television, Gurney Norman collaborated with independent filmmaker Andy Garrison, who directed three films based on Norman’s short stories. One of Norman’s short stories, “Fat Monroe,” was made into a film starring Ned Beatty in 1990.

In 2002, the Eastern Kentucky Leadership Conference honored Norman for his outstanding contributions to advancing regional arts and culture. In 2007, the Appalachian Studies Association awarded Norman the Helen M. Lewis Community Service Award, recognizing significant contributions to Appalachia. Norman continues to serve as senior writer-in-residence at Hindman Settlement School’s annual Appalachian Writers Workshop.

Right Reverend John Bryson Chane — Rev. Chane, who was consecrated the eighth Bishop of Washington on June 1, 2002, serves a diverse diocese of 91 congregations, nearly two dozen church-related schools and 45,000 members in the District of Columbia and Maryland. As president and CEO of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, Chane oversees the operations of Washington National Cathedral and the three cathedral schools: Saint Alban’s, National Cathedral School for Girls and Beauvoir School.

Named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 150 most influential leaders in the District of Columbia and recognized by the London Telegraph as one of the 50 most prominent leaders in the worldwide Anglican Communion, Chane continues to address local District of Columbia issues surrounding low-cost housing, advocacy for the homeless, the aged, those discriminated against because of sexual orientation and those who suffer from anti-immigration legislation.

He is the co-founder of the Episcopal Church’s “Bishops Working for a Just World” that seeks solutions to domestic and global poverty, universal health care and the environmental crisis. Chane continues to search for ways in which religion and international diplomacy can partner to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, especially focusing on the Middle East. In addition, Chane initiated companion partnerships with the Anglican Province of Southern Africa and the Diocese of Jerusalem with the Diocese of Washington. The work of the diocese targets health care and women’s issues in the Kingdom of Swaziland, HIV/AIDS care and prevention in South Africa and malaria prevention in Mozambique.

Chane has contributed to the Washington Post’s “On Faith” series and has appeared on ABC Television’s “Good Morning America,” National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” International Public Radio’s “Inter-faith Voices,” the BBC’s Radio and Television Network, CNN, Fox News, CBS and NBC television news. He has appeared on CSPAN focusing on Christian/Islamic relations and was featured in a three part PBS Television series entitled “Three Faiths, One God.” He is a featured writer in the recently published book “Iraq Uncensored.” He is a recipient of the “Inter-Faith Bridge Builders Award” presented by the Inter-Faith Council of Washington and was recognized by The George Washington University for his inter-faith work by being awarded the President’s Medal.

Prior to his election as Bishop, he served as dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, in San Diego, served parishes in New Jersey and Massachusetts and was Canon Pastor of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Erie, Pennsylvania. From 2003-2005, he served in the dual role of Bishop of Washington and interim dean of Washington National Cathedral.

A graduate of Boston University and the Berkeley Center at Yale Divinity School, Chane has received honorary doctorates from Virginia Theological Seminary, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge.

Kay Smith

As a ‘child of the depression,’ Kay felt deeply grateful to her aunt and uncle who helped to provide her college education. An educator, Kay married Larry Smith, a man who was as passionate about education as she was. In fact, they supported several causes together, and their support for Berea’s students became a joint endeavor.

When Larry died in 1997, Kay memorialized his life in a way he would have appreciated – with a scholarship for a Berea College student. She established the E. Lawrence and Kathleen M. Smith Scholarship, which has now supported four different students. Because she wanted to get to know the recipients, Kay makes a special effort to communicate personally with those students who benefit from her scholarship endowment. “I have had a marvelous relationship with the students,” she says. “I’ve enjoyed so much following and seeing their progress.”

Leah Devine, ’06, a Smith Scholarship recipient, says keeping in touch with Kay was a privilege. Although they were decades apart in age and miles apart in distance, they share an interest in teaching. Kay offered Leah, “hope and inspiration as I entered the Spanish classroom here in Kentucky,” Leah says.

“I am thankful for the opportunities we had to connect through our letters and cards over the years.”