Quan Do ’19 spent the summer designing interpretive signage for the Environmental Center that illustrates how the building is attempting to achieve Living Building Certification and that highlights unique building features. The signage is up all around the building and touches on energy, water, building materials, historic renovation, garden spaces, and… Continue reading »
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., July 25, 2016—The Class of 1966 Environmental Center at Williams College is offering tours of the building for the community from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 3. Light snacks will be offered. Children are welcome. “We welcome the community to tour the… Continue reading »
The Environmental Center landscape design works to restore the natural resources of the site by cleansing on-site rainwater and wastewater for future use, (i.e. irrigation & internal building use) and establish plant communities that function as biological islands to enhance wildlife habitat, attract insect and pollinators, which… Continue reading »
Bird’s eye view of the building. Notice the two roof-mounted solar arrays, the ground mounted array (in front of the building to the left), the pergola-mounted solar (in front of the building), and the 2 solar trackers (right) While the Class of 1966 Environmental Center doesn’t breathe, it… Continue reading »
Of course, in the Environmental Center, we try to conserve water. We do this both through our behavior (think minimizing outdoor irrigation and using pond water when we can) and through design and building infrastructure. Here are a few design pieces that help us minimize water use:… Continue reading »
The toilets in the two bathrooms of the Environmental Center look normal enough. Take a few steps closer and you’ll see that there are a few differences. First off, you’ll notice that the toilet is plugged in. Secondly, you’ll probably see that there is no handle… Continue reading »
These are passive solar shades that allow sunlight through when the sun is low in the sky (wintertime) to light and warm the building and block sunlight when the sun is higher in the sky (summertime) to help cool the building. For more information, visit our… Continue reading »
On April 29, 2016 Hampshire College celebrated the opening of the Kern Center -their own Living Building Challenge building, which will house Admissions and Financial as well as classroom space and a coffee bar. Like the Class of 1966 Environmental Center at Williams College,… Continue reading »
Check out the beautiful photos and interesting tidbits about various corners of building through the #WhatsThatWednesdays Instagram posts. Ponds/ Rain Gardens Caro Atwood '16 full-time student and thesis writer, part-time pond lounger Reused materials Vermont slate reclaimed from… Continue reading »
Due to a few kitchen challenges, we are temporarily closing our kitchen. We hope to reopen it soon and will notify trained Kitchen Users* when it is back up. (If you would like to be able to use the kitchen, email Postyn to sign up… Continue reading »
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