Academy Constructs Eco-Friendly Faculty Housing

With a host of eco-friendly features, the Crosbie House opened its doors to the PEA community Wednesday afternoon.Located on Court Street between Moulton House and Kirtland House, the campus’ newest faculty residence features various low-energy components, including complete thermal enclosure, heating and cooling, and water management systems, as well as energy-efficient lighting and appliances.The construction of the residence, which began in mid-May and ended in this month, is a part of an ongoing trend of new green homes on campus. "We as a contractor have built two LEED-certified [U.S. Green Building Council certified] residences at Phillips Exeter Academy," Michael Bruss, president of Bruss Construction, Inc., the contractor for the project, said. "Although we did not run the Crosbie House through the LEED process this time, we know the procedures and held ourselves to the same standards."The four-bedroom Crosbie House will soon be inhabited by the family of history instructor Meg Foley and biology instructor Erik Janicki. "We are delighted at the opportunity to live in a house built on sustainability principles. I cannot think of any negatives," Foley said. "Just to be the first residents in the school's new house is such a lucky thing. But to have it built in a way that is more ethically sound than conventional building, and for it to be such a beautiful house, are just the icing on the cake."The old Crosbie House was demolished earlier this year because of the condition of the old building, energy inefficiency and the need for replacement of all domestic systems, Bruss said. "Also, it’s difficult to insulate an old building to the same standards as this building," he added. "The costs to make the old building about 20-30 percent less efficient than this new building were estimated to be more than what it took to construct this building."Bruss said that energy was a major issue that the sustainable changes addressed. In order to construct the building in a sustainable manner, Facilities Management and Bruss Construction focused on building a well-insulated house. The building features 10 1/4 inch thick panels with little wood in them, triple-paned windows, cellulose insulation in the attic, a fully ducted air source heat pump for heating and cooling, solar thermal system on the roof for domestic hot water and a heat recovery ventilator for fresh air indoors."Also, the house is very airtight, because you lose a lot of energy not only by conductive heat through walls but also convection (air exchange)," Bruss said. "We put in a very efficient heating and cooling system; in this case, we used a Mitsubishi Air-to-Air Heat Pump, which runs at about the same efficiency as a ground source heat pump but results in much less capital costs, so it’s about the best heating and cooling system that we have out on the market."Students interested in sustainability were excited about the ecofriendly advances made in Crosbie House."In a day and age when national conservative voices continue to marginalize climate change as a less-than-serious issue, I think it's fantastic that Exeter's practicing sustainable building," senior e-proctor Kieran McLean said. "Eco-friendly construction is one of the ways that we turn climate change ideology into a recycled plastic reality and put doubters in its practicality to rest: by creating real infrastructure that shows that we can comfortably coexist within our ecosystems."Senior e-proctor Alan Guo agreed. "Sustainable construction is a fantastic way to implement eco-friendly practices on campus. They don't disturb campus life, and really don't require any significant living adjustments, unlike the trayless system implemented at Elm, for instance," he said. "Sustainable construction is also highly beneficial for the school; reduced energy bills, more money saved, and recognition for being green."Durability was another significant aspect considered in the planning of Crosbie House, according to Bruss. "We want to make sure that the building is going to be here for a long time. So we used high-quality materials that won’t deteriorate so that mold and mildew don’t build up," Bruss said. "We try to use as much local material as possible. Generally, we use a guideline of about 600 miles or less; for example, the wood flooring is from Maine, and it is sustainably harvested, employing local loggers and people in the manufacturing factories. "Senior Henry Stevens, who currently lives in Irving Forbes House, an on-campus sustainable and high performance faculty residence, said that his experience living in a building like Crosbie House has been positive."It’s great that all the materials used to construct the house are from local distributors. Wood from southern Maine composes the frame of the house, and the screen porch and deck are composed of 100 percent recycled materials," Stevens said. "The walls are extremely thick, and as a result the house is extremely well insulated, which maximizes heat retention."