Inside Furman is published quarterly by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
Sustainable living
Cliffs Home will promote green residential development
On May 21 ground was broken for the Southern Living showcase home, an environmentally
friendly house that will promote sustainable residential development and could
attract thousands of visitors to campus.
The house, which will feature solar and geothermal systems, will be located
adjacent to the Eco-Cottage and will overlook the lake. Furman has partnered
with Southern Living magazine and The Cliffs Communities, a resort area north
of campus, to fund and promote the home, which will be named Cliffs Cottage.
“This is a unique project,” says Ed Marshall, director of special
projects. “It will be an important addition to campus not only for our
Furman family but for the larger community because of its ramifications in
showcasing sustainability and green projects.”
Scheduled for completion next May, the 3,000-square-foot house will be open
to the public for a 12-month showcase period. Visitors will pay $10 per ticket
to tour the house and surrounding gardens.
Cliffs Cottage will include user-friendly interfaces that will promote both
“green” living and energy-saving operational systems. It will
offer exhibits and programs to educate visitors about sustainability efforts.
Southern Living magazine, which has a circulation of 16 million, will feature
several stories about the showcase home and gardens.
Cliffs Cottage, the sixth building on campus to be LEED (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design) certified, will include an ornamental garden. The
garden, which will be populated with indigenous plants, will be irrigated
using an 8,000-gallon underground cistern that will collect runoff rainwater
from the roof.
University officials and John Floyd, editor-in-chief at Southern Living, began
talking about the project in 2000. However, the terrorist attacks on 9/11
and the resulting securities market decline put the plan on hold. While the
idea lost momentum for a while, it never lost traction. It resurfaced more
than a year ago.
After the 12-month showcase period, Cliffs Cottage will serve as the home
for the university’s Center for Sustainability. “It will be a
physical resource, a model green building, and a place to learn and explore
sustainability,” says James Wilkins, the university’s ‘environmental
intern.
It will also be a base for research projects. Wilkins sees the house as a
unique tool for offering students interested in environmental science a chance
to learn directly about how environmental design works.
Cliffs Cottage will ultimately house offices, classrooms and meeting rooms.
The exhibit spaces will feature sustainable projects such as the restoration
of the lake and wetlands, the expansion of walking trails, and the development
of the former Swamp Rabbit rail right-of-way into a walking and trail-tram
line.