It's a green dorm after all

Before the green fee and before President Shirley Raines signed a green initiative pact with other college presidents, planning began for an environmentally friendly dormitory on The University of Memphis campus.

"We've been trying in housing for years to move more and more towards using more quality products that are environmentally friendly," said Danny Armitage, associate dean of students.

The new environmentally conscious dormitory, tentatively named Imaginari Cogitare Facere, will replace West Hall.

Three years ago, Armitage and architects looked at other environmentally efficient buildings for techniques they used to conserve energy and resources.

"I felt that it was the direction we'd be moving in. It was one of those things we wanted to do - something very environmentally efficient and environmentally friendly," Armitage said. "We slowly kept putting things together, and we said, 'Wow! We got a pretty green building.'"

Insulated concrete walls will be energy efficient, allowing more consistent room temperatures as well as reducing outdoor pollutants and improving indoor air quality.

Going along with the ICF Complex's green initiative, a variable refrigerant flow heating and air conditioning system and variable-speed compressors will be installed. The variable refrigerant system will reduce energy consumption while still delivering heat and air to residents as desired. By having variable-speed compressors in the building, it will avoid on/off cycles as well as energy efficiency.

These features will also meet noise and temperature concerns with residents. ICF Complex occupants will have individual control of heat and air in their rooms, and insulation will minimize outdoor and indoor noise.

Low-E, energy efficient windows, will be triple paned, helping again with insulation and building temperature. This will be cost effective in hot or cold climates.

Furniture in the dormitory will also be environmentally safe.

Foliot Furniture, a company Tennessee uses for dorm furniture, uses wood shavings, wood chips and sawdust to create engineered wood. This allows 95 percent of the tree to be used in the furniture instead of 63 percent.

Designs for the furniture are not only environmentally friendly but student friendly. The scratch resistant exterior surfaces and dent proof edge banding resist cracking and splitting.

Foliot Furniture was also the company used to refurnish South Hall and Richardson Towers this summer.

The new dormitory will meet Leadership for Environmental and Development silver standards, but The University does not have the money to give the building official LEAD certification. Instead, the state set its own standards, which are equivalent of those from LEAD. LEAD's goal is to create a sustainable world, according to their Web site.

Budget cuts to The University have not affected the $23 million project, which impressed Patrick Howie, environmental committee chairman for the Student Government Association.

"Even with the budget cuts, we're still finding ways to do this without going over budget," Howie said.

Money for the ICF Complex is coming from a Residence Life auxiliary account where rent money is placed. The building is also being financed with bonds, like housing mortgages, which will be paid off in time.

Eighty-five-percent of West Hall was recycled.

Some parts of West Hall were used to make the concrete for the new dormitory. Doors were taken by companies for reuse. Bricks, steel and pipes were also recycled and reused.

"There was very little that was not utilized in some capacity. It was really fascinating to watch," Armitage said.

A new energy and cost saving heating and cooling system was installed recently, but students haven't been able to notice a difference. Environmental Club President Erica Christensen said the students don't care about that, because they can't see its effects.

"I feel like students will be more interested in a sustainable design than energy cost," she said. "If they can see a building built in a more environmentally friendly way, something they walk by every day, they see how it's less intrusive on phys environment."

A green dorm on campus has appealed to students, even those who aren't fans of the green initiative, like freshman English major Ariel Clemons.

"They've been talking about going green for so long, now they're doing it," Clemons said.

By building the environmentally conscious ICF Complex, Howie said The University of Memphis will become a trendsetter and a leader in sustainability.

"In the next seven years, possibly four years, I think we're going to be the most sustainable campus in the southern region," Howie said.