THE FIRST SUSTAINABLE-CONSTRUCTION EFFORT at Hamilton was the creation of a solar-heated classroom in the 1970s. The Physics Department was looking to re-establish its astronomy program, and it was decided that a classroom would be needed adjacent to the Peters Observatory. The project was funded by Elihu Root III '36, and James Ring '51, now the Winslow Professor of Physics Emeritus, was involved with planning and construction.
"We had the idea for a classroom that would be heated by our nearest star: the sun," Ring said. "When we tested it, [the classroom] turned out to be extremely efficient considering the weather." With the opening of this classroom, Hamilton's commitment to the environment expanded to include an interest in alternative energy and efficiency as well as the general campus landscape. It was followed a few years later by a series of efficiency measurements — also directed by Ring — on all the buildings on the north side of campus. "Not surprisingly, they all turned out to be pretty inefficient," he recalls.
Those older buildings — residence halls and academic buildings, many of which date to the 19th century — are central to Hamilton's identity, tradition and charm. Some of them are also fondly remembered by many generations of alumni as freezers, hothouses and wind tunnels where "climate change" was what happened when one walked from one floor to another.
Such early efforts as Ring's helped establish a dual approach to building efficiency: First, planning and construction of all new buildings on campus must follow sustainable guidelines. Second, older buildings are now being monitored and renovated in order to reduce heat escape. Last year, windows of Couper Hall were replaced in order to reduce heat loss, while lighting was updated in Milbank Residence Hall. That process, Bellona and Ring point out, builds on itself; as more buildings are retrofitted with new windows, insulation and other measures, campus officials can monitor which renovations work best for which types of building and hone their approach accordingly. "We now have real-time sampling [of energy use] in 13 different buildings," Ring says. "That's going to be important for doing really good analysis."
For new and fully updated buildings, of course, the bar is set considerably higher. The creation of the Green Team in the '90s and the subsequent design of the Science Center led Hamilton eventually to adopt the LEED building standards that are now a cornerstone of the College's long-term planning as well as the 2007 Climate Commitment. Just three days before President Stewart signed the commitment, Hamilton unveiled its first LEED-certified building, the Skenandoa House residence hall. Built in 1922, the former Psi Upsilon house was rededicated in 2004 in honor of the Oneida chief and friend of founder Samuel Kirkland, and in 2006 the refurbished building earned the Silver LEED plaque — the oldest building in New York State to be so designated. The renovation includes a geothermal heating and cooling system that uses less than 39 percent of the energy required by a standard gas-fired system in a comparable residence hall of the same size. All Skenandoa's electrical power comes from sustainable energy sources as well.
Since then, several other buildings on campus have been renovated to LEED standards. The most recent is the Kirner-Johnson Building, the academic center of Kirkland College when it opened in 1968 and now the home of the social sciences, the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, the Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center and the Oral Communication Center. The Phase One expansion of the KJ project was completed last summer, with additional refurbishing to be completed this year (Alumni Review, Fall-Winter 2008, or online at www.hamilton.edu/magazine/2008/fall/).
"The building is being transformed from an environmental disaster — all-electric heat, single-glazed windows — to a LEED-certified 'green' building," says Professor of Economics Christophre Georges, who was involved in planning the renovations. The new KJ incorporates solar roof panels and wind-turbine power, heat-recovery air-handling units, high-efficiency blowers, reflective roofing to reduce the heat load, argon-insulated glass, occupancy sensors in all classrooms, and wood and brick recycled from the original KJ.
Bellona, who as Hamilton's chief of facilities and planning oversaw a majority of the KJ construction and renovation, worked closely with architects and designers to ensure that as many sustainable features as possible were incorporated. "If you put in systems that are energy efficient and done right, eventually you're going to see an overall reduction in your maintenance costs," he says. "There are some up-front costs associated with this kind of plan, but there's a conviction that in the long run, we're going to see some sort of dividend.
"The question is not whether we do it; the question is, why aren't we doing it?"
