Macalester College Eco-House | |
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General information | |
Location | 200 Vernon Street, St. Paul, Minnesota |
Website | |
https://www.macalester.edu/ecohouse |
Macalester College Eco-House is one of the many specialty housing options available to students at Macalester College after their first year. The Eco-House is the project of Chris Wells, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and began in Fall 2007 with the move-in of four student residents. In the summer of 2007, prior to its opening, the Eco-House underwent significant "green" renovations in order to make the 1950s-era house livable and to decrease its environmental footprint.
The Eco-House is intended as a place for students to "explore practical green-living lifestyles, to test the effectiveness of new green technologies, and to work with community partners to develop better resources on green renovations and sustainable lifestyles". [1] The house is also intended as a laboratory for testing the cost effectiveness and energy use of a variety of technologies and home renovations. Eco-House residents also host events, and workshops to draw attention to environmental issues on campus and to share energy-saving and environmentally friendly living techniques with the Macalester-Groveland community.
The renovations for the Macalester College Eco-House took place in the summer of 2007 and were conducted with a budget of $50,000 with the intent of making both affordable changes and including a few showcase items for the house that could be used as examples of environmentally friendly renovations for the college community.
These renovations included: [2]
The Eco-House has also been the subject of much attention in local media, with large media outlets such as the Star Tribune newspaper [3] and Minnesota Public Radio News [4] both doing stories on the project, as well as The Villager [5] and a variety of Macalester College publications. [6] [7]
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