Unity College awarded grant by The Kendeda Fund

September 16, 2010

Unity — In June, Unity College was awarded a $389,000 grant by The Kendeda Fund to construct a "cottage-style" residence based on principles of passive house design. The project entails an educational component involving Unity College students in the design, construction and monitoring of the facility through curricular and co-curricular activities.

"This will be a transformative project," noted Robert Constantine, vice president for college advancement at Unity College. "The direct involvement of college students in the design and construction of green student housing is a paradigm shift. Unity College fully intends to create a new model for how colleges and universities approach not only how they construct structures on their campuses, but in how they conceive of them."

Constantine also pointed out that the project is intended to be an educational model of sustainability, with classes using the completed residence as a living laboratory.

The Passive House standard in the United States is really an extension of the PassivHaus Institute of Germany. Passive House standard utilizes super insulation and tight air sealing to minimize heat loss. There are strict standards applied to Passive House regarding energy use intensity per square foot and air changes per hour that surpass other energy performance ratings.

"It's ‘passive' in that this design relies primarily on the solar gain and thermal efficiency for effective space heating," said Constantine. "Only secondarily — and often minimally — does a Passive House rely on active energy systems."

Unity College is a campus focused on sustainability and is home to Unity House, the first LEED Platinum, net-zero campus residence of a college president in the United States. It is home to Unity College President Mitchell Thomashow and his wife, Cindy.