Warren Wilson College has earned a LEED Platinum rating for its "EcoDorm" which was opened in 2003.
This is the first college campus building to achieve LEED Platinum in the Existing Buildings (EB) rating category. And this is the fourth LEED certified building on the Warren Wilson campus. The others are Orr Cottage and the Village South and Village North residences which all have LEED Gold ratings.
The EcoDorm was designed by Samsel Architects of Asheville. It's a the two-story structure that houses 36 residents. Warren Wilson students were involved in the planning, research and design of the building, and helped set its four green priorities: energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality and use of local and recyclable materials.
All wood used in the EcoDorm was either recycled or timber milled and finished on campus. The building's energy-saving technologies include solar hot water, photovoltaic panels, high-efficiency boilers and radiant floor heating. Plus, a web-based energy-monitoring system keeps tabs on it all.
One of the more unusual features students came up with is a salvaged 10,000-gallon railroad tanker car; fed by roof runoff, the underground cistern provides water for flushing toilets and irrigating the dorm's permaculture landscaping.
Their full press release is here.
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