main content College commits to building ‘green’

To sustain and enhance the natural beauty of the campus, the College is committed to a design and construction process that is aligned with “green building” practices. Green building means creating architecture that minimizes the use of natural resources, toxic materials, and emissions of waste and pollutants and that maximizes the use of recycled materials.

Last month, Deconstruction Services of the Rebuilding Center in Portland deconstructed Gallagher House and Huddleson 1 and 2, three of the small brown houses that were situated on the hillside above Huddleson Road. By reversing the order of normal building construction, crews removed the roof, windows, doors, siding, cabinets, drywall, insulation and plumbing. They pulled out nails and screws and hauled out floor joists. They will resell most of the materials removed from the house. And they will recycle materials that can’t be sold.

Depending on the College’s work schedule, crews will demolish and recycle or deconstruct the remaining three houses on Huddleson Road to make room for the new residence halls.

Walker & Macy, landscape architect for the project, is doing its utmost to save as many trees as possible.Crews placed six-foot hurricane fencing around trees that will be saved, protecting their root systems. They milled trees that could not be saved, and 98 percent of that wood will be used on campus.

“We’ll be planting new trees and shrubs on the hillside,” says Jon Eldridge, dean of students. “When the project is complete, the site will hold many more trees than it does now.”