Many of the growing numbers of people trying to "go green" focus on lifestyle changes such as screwing in compact fluorescent light bulbs or tossing banana peels in the compost bucket.
But it's possible to do much more. Members of the Duke and Durham communities will be able to see the future for themselves this month as Duke dedicates two new "green" buildings: the Home Depot Smart Home and the French Family Science Center.
Both buildings incorporate the latest thinking about sustainable materials, energy management and water conservation. Visitors can take public tours on Nov. 9, 12 and 13, and attend dedication events that feature actor and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr., and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu of the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The 6,000-square-foot Home Depot Smart Home on Faber Street on Duke's Central Campus is a new residence hall designed to house 10 students. In addition to being a living space, it's also a laboratory.
Building Dedications
Home Depot Smart Home (Pictured) Dedication and Tours
Open House Tours: 2-7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 12 and 13, on Faber Street on Central Campus, adjacent to the Freeman Center.
Conference: Is It Possible To Live Environmentally Sustainable Lives And Still Embrace Technology?
Monday, Nov. 12, at noon in Page Auditorium
Information: www.smarthome.duke.edu
French Family Science Center Dedication and Symposium
Friday, Nov. 9, at 124 Science Drive, West Campus
Guided tours
9:30 a.m.-10:15 a.m, tours depart from the lobby
Ceremony on the lawn
10:30 a.m.
Melinda French Gates and her family, Duke leaders and students
Symposium: Undisciplined Science
1:30-5 p.m. at the French Family Science Center Auditorium
Information: 684-3710
"Living in the Home Depot Smart Home has been a dream of mine ever since I got involved with the program my freshman year," says junior Tim Gu, Smart Home president and soon-to-be resident. "The home's completion is just the beginning the coolest and most exciting things can now be implemented into a building that is designed to be taken apart, fitted with new projects and monitored."
Faculty across campus will be engaged with students in using the Smart Home for research, says Robert Clark, dean of the Pratt School of Engineering.
"We want to leverage their enthusiasm to create a broader range of projects in the dorm from sociology majors studying group dynamics and technology adoption to economics majors evaluating the costs and benefits of new technology designs," Clark says.
With a roof that combines solar panels and living plants and an exterior of flat, black panels with gaps in between, it's obvious from the outside that something is different about this dormitory. Rainwater from the roof will be captured in cisterns and filtered through a man-made pond near the front door.
What visitors won't see is the foam insulation completely filling the walls, or the extra space above the ceilings in the basement for added wiring to support the sensors and systems that student engineers will be tinkering with throughout the building.
The first occupants, 10 students from the Pratt School of Engineering and Trinity College, will move into the Smart Home in January. All are members of a 100-student research and design team that helped plan the home and its systems. These pioneer residents will be ambassadors of sustainable lifestyle choices, including energy efficiency, waste reduction and water conservation.
"I'll get to play, test and tinker with these projects and work with the project teams to improve their designs. Living with nine other students in an environment of breathtaking innovation will be an education that I don't think I'll forget about anytime soon," Gu says.
As part of the kickoff, Begley and others will take part in a conference at noon Nov. 12. Winston Ledet, vice president of merchandising strategy for The Home Depot, will also be on hand, continuing the home improvement chain's support for the project.
Smart Home's design is aimed at achieving at least a Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's highly sought Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. That's the second-highest certification level.
The 280,000-square-foot French Family Science Center (FFSC) on West Campus won its Silver LEED certification in October. Where possible, FFSC was built with recycled and sustainable building materials. Its roof includes 15,000 square feet of sod to filter rainwater and cool the building, and its restrooms feature waterless urinals, low-flush toilets and sinks that use half the normal amount of water.
The building brings together faculty from diverse scientific disciplines, from materials science to bioinformatics, and features state-of-the-art research and teaching laboratories. It will be formally dedicated Nov. 9 with public tours, a brief ceremony and a symposium. Melinda French Gates (Trinity '86 and Fuqua '87), co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will take part in the 10:30 a.m. dedication with members of her family, for whom the building is named.
The symposium features 1997 Nobel Laureate Steven Chu of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other prominent scientists.
"The French Family Science Center's design is a reflection of 21st-century science, which is collaborative," says Alvin Crumbliss, Duke's new dean of natural sciences, whose own office and lab are in the building.
"Natural light gives it a more pleasant working environment and contributes to the building's many green aspects," Crumbliss says. The building's multi-story atrium and central hallways feature large windows for natural light and sightlines into offices and labs. "You don't need as much high-intensity fluorescent lighting to illuminate the laboratories, he says."