Questions?
E-Mail Stephen Nason, the Director of Residence Life/Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, or telephone- (207) 948-3131 ext. 284
TerraHaus
Terra Haus is a 10 person Apartment-style Passive House residence which is located by the cottages.
Terrahaus, Unity’s first student Passive House residence is a two-story cottage with ten bed spaces divided into four double rooms and two singles rooms. The first floor consists of the common areas, which are an open plan with a kitchen/dining/living area in the center with a single bedroom, double bedroom, mud room and bathroom surrounding. The second floor has the remaining three double bedrooms, a single bed room and a bathroom.
The energy specifications of TerraHaus are pretty impressive. The walls of the building have a R50 value, roof R80, floor R70 and the windows a R8. TerraHaus is designed to use about 186 Btu per hour compared to 11,000 Btu per hour a normal similar size building would use. This comes out to about 14 Btu per square foot per year. After the passive energy gains, the building’s remaining heat needs will be met with electric heat with an annual cost of $335.
The passive energy for the house is sunlight. The building has huge two-story windows which are situated so that they get the maximum sunlight in the winter. The roof overhang is designed so that the solar gain is much less in the summer, as one of the biggest challenges is that the building gets too hot in the summer. By situating the building to take advantage of the change in the angle of sunlight from summer to winter, the building stays cooler in the summer but still is able to provide nearly all of the heat needed even in the winter.
Residents of the TerraHaus are expected to live an energy-efficient lifestyle and will work with the Director of Residence Life and the Sustainability Coordinator to fulfill the program goals of the TerraHaus – namely, those related to building energy performance, sustainability education, and public engagement.
- Building Energy Performance: Residents of the TerraHaus are expected to be knowledgeable of the building’s energy performance and able to explain its systems to visitors and community members. TerraHaus residents will consider carefully how their daily behavior impacts energy performance of the residence.
- Sustainability Education: Residents may be asked to host overnight prospective students who are interested in the College’s sustainability programs.
- Public Engagement: Residents of the TerraHaus are expected to maintain the common rooms in a presentable manner for visiting classes, visitors, and other guests of the College. The TerraHaus will be open for tours during Admissions open houses, previews and new student experience. The College will notify the residents of pending visitors at least 48 hours prior.
The bedrooms of the TerraHaus are considered private and not open to visitors unless the residents agree to. Except where designated, residents are not allowed to nail, screw, etc. anything to the walls of the TerraHaus in order to preserve sound proofing and energy performance. Residents of TerraHaus can opt to be off the meal plan. Housing selection for TerraHaus is like Cianchette in that residents select either a single room or a double room and their roommate.
- Mission of Residence Life
- To house residents in a manner that meets their safety, security and personal needs.
- To provide a residential atmosphere that promotes residents' development and learning outside of the classroom.
