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By Julie Sowell
Bruce/Trades Buildings
Scheduled for completion this fall, the Bruce/Trades Building complex is home
to the interrelated Appalachian Center and the Center for Excellence in Learning
Through Service (CELTS) programs. Built in the early part of the century to
house vocational programs such as woodworking and student industries that included
the Bakery, Candy Kitchen and Broomcraft, these venerable but outdated buildings
have been given new usefulness thanks to careful planning and creative design.
Renovation of the first and second floors of the Bruce Building
began in 1998 to house Appalachian Center programs. Work to accommodate
the CELTS programs on the second floors of the Bruce and Trades
Buildings began in the summer of 2000. Printing Services is located
on the first floor of Trades, while the offices of Business and
Administration now occupy the newly renovated space on the building’s
third floor. The new glass-fronted connector linking the two buildings
provides flexible shared programming space for the Centers’ activities
while enhancing the complex’s Main St. facade.
OveArup Engineering, consultants for this and other campus renovation
and building projects as well as part of the team developing the
College’s Energy Master Plan, developed a model to determine
the most energy-efficient heating and cooling system. As a result
of this model, the connector will use thermal mass to reduce the
need for more conventional heating and cooling. Operable exhaust
vents in the roof will help keep the structure cool.
Ecological design-- the art and science of designing an
appropriate fit between the human environment and the natural
world.
Using nature as a model, ecological design reduces wastes,
maximizes recycling and reuse, and focuses on the use of
renewable energy sources.
Applying the principles
of ecological design to the development of Berea’s buildings and grounds is central to the
College’s efforts to become a campus committed to
practices and technologies that minimize energy and materials
use, reduce pollution and minimize other environmentally
destructive impacts, a commitment outlined in the College’s
strategic plan Being and Becoming: Berea College in the
21st Century. With the completion of one renovation project
and the start of two other construction projects, the College
is well on its way to achieving its vision of becoming
a sustainable learning and living environment.
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Jesse Preston Draper Building
Renovation of the Jesse Preston Draper Building, the landmark academic building
on campus, began in June and is expected to take 15 months. Built in 1937-38
and modeled on Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Draper is the College’s
main teaching and learning facility.
The renovation of Draper is the College’s first large-scale
application of ecological design to campus facilities, creating
not only an improved building in which to teach and learn, but
a building that teaches through its very architecture, according
to Berea President Larry D. Shinn.
"Our goal is to build the most useful facility for teaching
and learning at Berea College that also teaches its inhabitants
about human and natural ecology," says Shinn.
While the 52,000 sq. ft. interior space of Draper will be radically
transformed, the building’s historic character and red-brick
Georgian exterior will be maintained. Danforth Chapel, which extends
from the back of the building, and Draper’s tower containing
a recently installed 56-bell carillon will remain unchanged. Inside,
the design will create a more integrated and open teaching and
learning environment among students, faculty and staff. Classrooms
will be renovated to create a wide range of learning environments
ranging from small seminar-type spaces to larger high-tech classrooms
that will capitalize on the benefits of technology. An additional
teaching and learning center will serve the entire campus community.
At the same time, Draper will be a model "green" building
to set the standard for future renovations on campus, through the
resourceful use of energy, water and building materials and as
an example of place-responsive design. Among the major improvements
and "place-responsive" features are:
1. use of local and environmentally responsible
building materials and practices;
2. the extensive use of daylight throughout the building;
3. a central 3-story skylight atrium providing natural
light and functioning as a natural stack ventilation cooling
tower;
4. a high-efficiency HVAC system in conjunction with
passive heating and cooling techniques;
5. high degree of personal control over passive climate-control
features to provide flexibility and encourage awareness and
learning through participation;
6. an energy and water use monitoring system to track
building performance and encourage stewardship of the building
and its resource flow;
7. various water-conserving measures including gutters
that channel rainwater into cisterns for irrigation or other
use.
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Construction began on the Draper Building
in June. The College's first large-scale application of ecological
design to campus facilities, it is expected to be complete
by Fall 2002.
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An expected benefit of this approach to the building’s
design is that, when completed, Draper will use only about one-third
of the energy it now requires to operate. Steed Hammond Paul of
Cincinnati, in association with Ecological Design Institute (EDI)/Van
der Ryn are the project architects. EDI/Van der Ryn also contributed
to the design of the Bruce/Trades Building and the Berea College
Ecovillage. Representatives of OveArup Engineering have contributed
to the design of the building’s heating, cooling and ventilation
systems. EDI vice president Rob Pena says the design reflects the
College’s commitment to the environmental goals of the renovation.
"They really encouraged us to walk our talk and push the
envelope of what could be done with this project," says Pena. "They
have set very high standards for everything we are doing."
Ecological Design Principles
Architect Sim Van der Ryn, founder and principal architect of Ecological Design
Institute/Van der Ryn Architects, a leading ecological design firm which is
part of the design team for the three projects, has identified five principles
of ecological design.
Solutions Grow from Place
Ecological design begins with the intimate knowledge of a particular place. It
is small-scale and direct, responsive to both local conditions and local people.
If we are sensitive to the nuances of place, we can inhabit without destroying.
Ecological Accounting Informs Design
Ecological accounting traces the environmental impacts of existing and proposed
designs. It is an accounting which links our actions to the health of sometimes
distant
ecosystems.The information is used to make ecologically sound design decisions.
Design with Nature
By working with living processes, we respect the needs of all species while meeting
our own. Engaging in processes that regenerate rather than deplete, we become
more alive.
Everyone is a Designer
Listening to every voice in the design process. Everyone is a participant-designer.
Honor the special knowledge that each person brings. As people work together
to heal their places, they also heal themselves.
Make Nature Visible
De-natured environments ignore our need and our potential for learning. Making
natural cycles and processes visible brings the designed environment back to
life. Effective design helps inform us of our place within nature.
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The Berea College Ecovillage
On the western edge of the campus, construction of the Berea College
Ecovillage will begin in 2002. Guided by intertwined educational
and environmental goals, the Ecovillage will be an ecologically-sustainable
residential and learning complex designed to meet housing needs
for student families that will abound with educational opportunities,
says Dr. Richard Olson, director of Berea’s Sustainability
and Environmental Studies program.
"The Ecovillage is first and foremost about education," said
Olson. "It is an example of learning by doing. "Residents
and their children will learn valuable lessons in environmentally
responsible living through everyday activities and shared experiences,
he continues, while other components of the Ecovillage will provide
educational opportunities for the entire campus and beyond.
In addition to 32 new units of family housing and a new state-of-the-art
child development and daycare center, the complex will include
a commons house, a Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS)
demonstration house and site and landscaping features such as vegetable
gardens, fruit trees, a greenhouse and a wetland.
Stringent performance goals for the Ecovillage include: reduction
of energy use by 75%; generation of 10% of the Ecovillage’s
electricity on-site from renewable sources; reduction of per capita
water use by 75%; treatment of sewage and wastewater on-site to
swimmable quality, and recycling, reusing or composting at least
50% of waste. To accomplish these and other goals, the Ecovillage
will incorporate a wide range of "green design" elements
including passive solar heating, photovoltaic panels and wind-powered
electrical generators. On-site treatment of waste will be accomplished
using composting toilets and a ‘living machine," which
converts sewage to swimmable quality water. Roof-top capture of
rainwater will contribute to irrigation and production of fruits
and vegetables in local gardens and greenhouses.
The SENS House will be the education and research focal point
for sustainable living for the campus. A faculty member and six
students who are SENS minors will have opportunities for experiential
education in sustainable living and be responsible for performance
monitoring and some maintenance for the entire Ecovillage as well
as the SENS house.
A unique feature of the SENS House is that it is being designed
by Berea students. The first plans were developedduring a Jan.
2001 short term class in ecological design taught by Dr. Richard
Olson, and with the assistance of architects with Ecological Design
Institute/Van der Ryn Associates at their design studios in Sausalito,
Calif., which the students visited during the course. In spring
2001, students working on the SENS House were Kelly Cutchin, ’03,
Jessica Richardson, ’03, and Faye Tewksbury, ’03.
The first phase of the Ecovillage project will include site development
and construction of the student family apartments and commons house,
with occupancy scheduled for fall of 2002. The SENS house and child
development laboratory and daycare center will occur as the project’s
second phase.
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The Ecovillage will not only benefit Berea
College. "We want to be able to demonstrate to people
in the city, county and surrounding areas that you can have
very efficient homes at a reasonable cost that are exciting
places to live, inviting, and educational," says Diane
Kerby, asst. vice president of business & administration.
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"This approach to renovation projects will provide opportunities
for students to live out lessons learned in the classroom--lessons
that will prepare them for their stewardship of the fragile and
finite resources in our environment," says President Shinn. "Berea’s
commitment to plain living is made tangible through these innovative
programs."
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