• Farm and Food

Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village

Named for benefactor Kathryn W. Davis, the sustainability of the Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village is evident in every detail. Built with an exceptional level of thermal integrity and a super-insulated design, the three duplex buildings feature a minimal heating load. The wood pellet furnace burns local, renewable energy, while composting toilets minimize water use.

Recycling is evident throughout the building, from the exterior fiber cement clapboards to the foot of cellulose insulation created from shredded newspapers, to the gray water from showers that will preheat water going into the hot water system. Similarly, during the heating season, an energy recovery central ventilation unit will preheat fresh air coming into the building.

Students had a significant hand in the design of the buildings. The residences were initially conceived as three larger units in a single connected building. But the students felt this would be too exclusive. They asked for smaller, individual buildings, allowing a more intimate experience, with ground floor common spaces open to the entire community. This re-design also routed the campus pathway through the housing to create the feeling of walking through a village street.

Students also chose furniture and carpeting, considering a wide range of environmental factors, including sustainably harvested wood, recycled materials, fabrics that can be cleaned with water and an assurance that nothing off-gases.

Set with views to Frenchman Bay, it is also remarkable for its beauty.

For more information on the story and sustainable efforts behind Kathryn W. Davis Village please download this PDF (1.1 MB).

Deering Common

COA has a history of reusing, renovating and adapting buildings for campus use. It nearly broke that tradition, however with the historic Sea Urchins, a summer cottage built by Rotch and Tilden in 1886. Once inspectors determined the building would not be safe as a student residence, the college sadly decided to tear it down. At the last minute, however, Millard Dority realized that instead of spending over $6 million to build a campus center from the ground up, Sea Urchins could be renovated into our new campus center. In September 2008, Deering Common, with a wide porch overlooking Frenchman Bay, opened to the campus.

Though the original structure was built as a summer home, the building is predicted to has an R-rating of 7, far exceeding the standard for adaptive re-use.

Other Buildings

Thanks to the generosity of community residents and summer visitors, COA has been able to incorporate many older buildings into its campus, including The Turrets, an imposing granite mansion on the National Register of Historic Places. Built by Bruce Price in 1893 as a summer home, in has been a personal residence and tourist home. Although part of the building was once used as student housing, it is now the main administrative building at College of the Atlantic.

The two northernmost buildings have each been used for multiple purposes including greenhouses, living machines and classrooms. They now house the pottery studio, art studio and the Buildings and Grounds office and workshop. Peach House, previously known as the Gatehouse, was the college's first administrative building, and had been located where Blair-Tyson is now. Renamed Peach House, for Ann Peach, COA's second staff member after founding president Ed Kaelber was hired, is now a student residence and sits near the Davis Residential Village.

Wood Procurement

COA uses only certified wood, no wood from old-growth forests and no materials that out-gas chemicals

Lighting

• In 2008, COA substituted compact fluorescent light bulbs for incandescent wherever possible.
• New residences also use LED lights
• Buildings are oriented to take advantage of natural light
• COA pioneered the use of light shelves, bouncing light from windows to ceiling to light a room's interior.

Heat

• 20 percent of campus is now heated via renewable wood pellet boiler
• Temperatures kept to 65 during the day and 50 at night.
• Air-to-air heat exchange for buildings built in 1990s.
• Coolant from air-conditioning in library stacks and kitchen used to preheat hot water.
• Newer buildings constructed with large masonry mass to passively collect heat.
• All new buildings use integrated passive solar strategies.
  

Product Purchasing

Products purchased for buildings at College of the Atlantic are not only 90% environmentally friendly, but also more friendly (and less harmful) to users. Products that contain bleach, ammonia and aerosols are avoided when possible, but under certain circumstances need to be used. The transition from standard cleaning supplies and paper products has been a process that has happened over time: as non-sustainable products have run out, they are replaced with alternative options. "You have to be careful, products can say 'green' or 'natural,' but are not really," said Russell Holway, head custodian at COA.

Holway researches products, even traveling to trade shows to explore alternative options. Paper products (including toilet tissue and rolled towels) are all 100% recycled products, and where available are made from 50 to 80% post-consumer recycled material. Cleaners and cleansers are researched before being used. Many "green seal" products are used, but not exclusively. Cleaning supplies are also slowly transitioning to more sustainable options. COA is now purchasing brooms made from dye-free corn fiber with removable bamboo handles, and rugs made of recycled PET products.

As of November 2006, College of the Atlantic has been looking at purchasing practices of paint and paint supplies. Mary Harney, painter at COA said that in terms of choosing paint, "It's a combination...what makes sense for what we can afford, the activities of the community and that it works for the long run: that it's sustainable." Harney looks at the VOC (volatile organic compound) and silica content. Research for new products starts by looking at paint standards for LEED certification, EPA "green" paint standards and state regulations set by California. Although most paints used are latex, in certain circumstances oil-based paint makes the most sense. COA paints its benches in the dining hall with an oil-based product that lasts longer than latex, making it more economic and less abrasive on painters and other community members. New products, including paint and stain made from organic linseed oil, are monitored for wear and tear of college students, faculty and staff. Like the continual updating of paint products (including primer and caulking), Harney continually updates her training as well in order to better be prepared for what she finds under the layers of paint.

Flooring

• FSC-certified wood tiles in Dorr Museum
• Elsewhere. non-toxic, biodegradable natural linoleum, organic binding glues that do not off-gas carcinogens.
• Carpets made from recycled materials, frequently from Maine's Interface Fabric Group.

Water

All toilets, urinals, faucets and shower heads use less than three gallons of water.

Landscaping

Since it's founding, COA has used mostly native species and some long-naturalized plants for its landscaping to minimize maintenance requirements. No landscape waste goes off-campus. All campus landscaping is maintained using organic methods. The college's Beech Hill Farm is certified as an organic farm by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association according to the new federal organic standards. The college's Community Garden has been organic and open to the college's neighbors since its first summer.