2006 President's Report: Sustainability

1. Sustainable Living: Feature Story | Specific Initiatives | Sustainability in Action

Feature Story: The more you learn, the less you need: an experiment in residential living

Tucked on the north side of the lake, near the Bell Tower and the marching band practice field, lies a small experiment in eco-friendly living. To the naked eye, it simply looks like another one of the cabin-style housing possibilities that students have enjoyed since the early 1970s.

But if you look a bit closer, you’ll notice a few unusual characteristics. Solar panels, a clothesline, and a very healthy garden are a few clues to suggest that there might be something different.

The Eco-Cottage, as it’s called, is indeed something different. Home to eight students each year, it’s an ongoing research project that began in 1999 with the goal of helping students “gain applied knowledge about alternative energy sources, recycling, sustainable practices such as efficient appliances, and monitoring resource usage.” It is a fully functioning total-immersion experiment in sustainable living.
Approximately 1,480 square feet, the Eco-Cottage has been modified to include environmentally friendly, energy-saving features such as low-flow showerheads, energy-efficient appliances, water monitoring systems and solar paneling. Seventeen donors, including the Associated Colleges of the South, funded the refit of the house, which sits next to another house of similar square footage, built the same year. Living there are eight students serving as a control group by going about their lives without any non-standard equipment. According to an analysis of the data collected between 2000 and 2005, on average, the Eco-8 use 70 percent less energy than their control group neighbors.

Furman saves some money each year thanks to these energy-conscious students, but the impact of the experiment is greater than the dollars saved. The Eco-Cottage shows students that anybody can be environmentally friendly. An environmental conscience is not reserved for scientists or career conservationists. “It helps people see that it is not hard to recycle or turn off the lights when you leave a room,” former Eco-Cottage resident Dan Matz says. Current resident Pete Demarco adds, “I’ve learned that environmentally conscious practices are often really easy to implement.”

In fact, the environmentally friendly habits are easy to practice as long as you’re dedicated to giving it a good try. As far as the buildings go, Director of Housing Boyd Yarbrough believes that, perhaps excluding the cost-restrictive solar paneling, every eco-friendly feature in the Cottage could be easily implemented in a suburban residential area.

Of course, Furman is already implementing green technologies in new and renovated buildings on campus and is looking for innovative ways to increase the use of these technologies in existing facilities and campus grounds. However, at the moment, the Eco-Cottage remains the best way Furman can enable students to live an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, by keeping a detailed record of energy expenditures and progress in other habits. Kartikeya Singh, also a former resident, says, “We were more consistent with recycling and composting because it was convenient to do so.”
“Strong personalities and strong smells mean that the cottage can be a little cramped at times, but it’s been great living with seven friends while doing something small to help the environment,” says Demarco.

Matz remarks, “It made me more aware of what my impact on the environment was. While living there I made an effort to save water and electricity and to recycle, and after a year I had formed habits that I carry with me.”

When asked about the future, Singh says, “I’d like to see the creation of an Eco-Bell Tower Row. All of the cabins along the road should be retrofitted to be energy and water efficient and have an eco-conscious living pledge associated with them, kind of like a living-learning hall, but for sophomores and upper-classmen.”
“The program should require whoever lives here to take a class or have a pet project or do something,” adds Demarco.
“We of course added the organic garden and the clothesline to minimize energy usage from the dryer,” chimes in Singh. “The compost that was made the entire year was later placed in the organic garden plot.”

Due to a recent surge in interest, University Housing is exploring the possibility of an “enviromentally sustainable” themed freshman hall similar to the currently available Wellness Hall. Housing is even considering a larger program similar to the Language House, where students are immersed in both the formal study of a topic and practical everyday living application.

Students living in the cottage point out that the living arrangement is truly a group effort, where “everyone has to do their part.” Not only do their energy-saving habits rub off on each other, they also influence the control cabin residents, who report that they started watching their energy usage as well. Frank Powell, a faculty advisor to the project, developed an appropriate theme: “The more you learn, the less you need.”

Specific Initiatives: How we're making a difference

Sustainability spreading to other campus housing
According to Jeff Redderson, director of Facilities Services, Furman has made it increasingly easy for students to live on campus, thereby building a stronger sense of community and cutting back on use of fossil-fuel-powered transportation. Redderson also notes that Facilities Services has installed low-flow showerheads in all dorms and refitted the majority of campus buildings with low-flow showers, toilets and faucets.

Sharing the results
Professor Frank Powell moderated a forum titled “Educational, Economic, and Behavioral Impacts of a Solar Powered Dormitory on an Undergraduate, Liberal Arts University Campus” at the 11th International Symposium on Renewable Energy Education, in conjunction with the 50th International Solar Energy Society meeting held in Orlando, Fla., last year. Bill Ranson, EES; Phil Lewis, Facilities Services; students Chris Jones and Kartikeya Singh; and Bruce Wood, a solar specialist from Greenville, also participated in the forum.

Sustainability in Action: Images of Campus Involvement: The Eco Cottage