The dedication of Stone Village – Bridgewater College’s new environmentally sustainable student residences – will be held Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 11 a.m.
Featured speakers include representatives of the college and the United States government. The event is free, open to the public and will be held rain or shine. Refreshments and a tour of Stone Village will be provided.
Stone Village, which is located at East College and College View streets, is registered as a potential Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver project. The five residences adhere to an internationally recognized green building certification system and represent significant energy savings, water efficiency and improved indoor environmental quality.
Funding for the project was provided through a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan.
Bridgewater College President George Cornelius, Bridgewater College President Emeritus Phillip C. Stone, for whom the buildings were named, United States Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Cheryl Cook and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-6th) will speak.
“From the start, the college viewed Stone Village as an opportunity to provide a new housing concept on our campus – one that reflected student interests and lifestyle preferences,” said Anne B. Keeler, vice president for finance and treasurer at Bridgewater. “Our students have expressed a growing interest in sustainability and are genuinely concerned about how they and their college might make more environmentally sensitive choices.”
During the initial planning for Stone Village, architects from the Greensboro, N.C.-based Moser Mayer Phoenix Associates (MMPA) solicited student and staff input about design concepts. During those meetings, Keeler noted, a campus-wide interest in sustainable planning was reaffirmed.
“The industry standard for environmentally friendly building design is the LEED program, and college officials asked the design team to pursue LEED certification.”
Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED provides building owners and operators with a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.
Keeler said that everything about Stone Village – landscaping, building materials, electrical systems and appliances – reflects a carefully thought-out respect for the environment and commitment to sustainability. Some of its environmentally responsible features include:
· Landscaping has been designed so that storm water runoff will be clean and that plants will not require potable water for irrigation.
· At least 20 percent of all building materials are made of recycled materials.
· Insulation, which exceeds minimum requirements, is composed of rapidly renewable, soy-based materials.
· Rooms are equipped with occupancy sensor lights, which turn on and off when a room is or isn’t in use.
· All appliances bear an Energy Star rating.
· Interior paints and adhesives are environmentally friendly and improve indoor air quality because they contain low amounts of volatile organic compounds.
· Twenty percent of all materials used in Stone Village were made or harvested within 500 miles of Bridgewater College, which required less fuel and other resources for delivery.
The five houses of Stone Village are grouped with the pre-existing Strickler Apartments to form a village-style community for 87 students. Built in 2010-2011 and resembling late Victorian residential architecture, the four larger units comprise 5,000 square feet and house 16 students each. The smaller unit, also built in 2011, comprises 3,000 square feet and houses eight students. The Strickler building contains 3,000 feet and houses 15 students.
Keeler noted that Stone Village will help accommodate what the college anticipates as a growth in resident students over the next few years.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,700 undergraduate students.
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