Students living in USC’s West Quad, a new environmentally sustainable residence hall, discover that it’s easy—and fun—being green.

By Kathy Henry Dowell

At first sight, West Quad looks like a grand Southern estate: classic Greek Revival façade, apricot-colored stucco, crisp white trim, and a cupola topped with a weather vane.

But USC’s newest residence hall also has massive solar panels that collect the sun’s energy and use it to heat the water supply. A multi-tiered courtyard filters and recycles rainwater. A wildlife refuge, an all-natural waste-cleansing bog, and a composting tub decorate the front lawn.

Everything about West Quad was planned with an eye toward the wise use, and reuse, of the Earth’s resources. There is no stairway, hallway, closet, or study nook that hasn’t been configured to protect or conserve environmental resources.

When students signed up to live in the new “green” building last year, they were signing up for a whole new educational experience. Just call it Planet Earth 201, a yearlong lab for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. There are no texts to buy and the commute to class is a breeze, but the instruction is a bit unorthodox—students are learning from the four-building complex itself.

Going green
USC is only the third university in the country to plan and construct a green complex like West Quad, which qualifies for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. West Quad is slated for gold certification; the only other new green residence building on a university campus is silver-certified at Carnegie Mellon University.

That will change once other universities discover that West Quad was built at the cost of a conventional residence hall, predicts Gene Luna, University Housing director.

“At the end of the day, green space costs the same to construct and run as non-green buildings,” Luna said. “And in the long run, the green space costs less. This residence hall is larger than East Quad—the last residence hall constructed on campus—but it will cost 45 percent less to run energy-wise. This year, the West Quad’s first year, we’ll see about a $40,000 savings on electrical costs, and about $40,000 savings on water.”

After nearly a year, “West Quad has proven to be environmentally responsible, healthy, and profitable,” said Environmental Programs Manager Michael Koman. “We have 170,000 square feet of evidence that proves that green building is not more expensive.”

The benefits of green building go far beyond economics. Buildings like West Quad also enhance and protect ecosystems and biodiversity, improve air and water quality, reduce solid waste, and conserve natural resources. Other benefits include improved individual and community health.

In the United States, building construction contributes about 40 percent of the municipal solid waste generated each year. While building West Quad, USC recycled more than 85 percent of the construction waste.

Another benefit is the creation of consumers who will know how to conserve once they have their own homes.

“Students are actively learning here,” said Kirstin Dow, an associate professor in the Department of Geography and faculty director of the West Quad Living-Learning Center for Sustainable Futures. “I think it’s true that they retain 20 percent of what a teacher tells them, but they retain 80 percent of what they experience. And it’s really fun being involved in the 80 percent part.”

That ‘no paint’ smell
In August, students just moving into West Quad first noticed what was not there. The carpet gives off no carbon dioxide emissions. It is composed of recycled content and, when it must be replaced, it will be recycled again. All paint used in the building was odorless. Construction workers did not smoke in the building.
Students quickly began to take notice of other things.

“I’m a big fan of the light shelf,” said Brooks Willet, a residence hall director and senior math major. “It makes a big difference in letting in natural light. We wake up to natural sunlight, which is very relaxing.”

The inexpensive light shelves sit atop south-exposed windows, bouncing heat back outside while providing plenty of natural light inside. As for electrical lighting, only compact fluorescent bulbs are used. They last five to seven years and are mercury-free.

The complex is located near the campus core, making it practical to walk or bike to class. West Quad makes it easy: bike racks stand at every major entrance and, when they return, riders can shower and change in a first-floor shower area created especially for them. Anyone who even thinks about using another energy source for transportation is a target for chiding.

“You’re driving to your exam?” one student asked another during final exam week. “No, man, you gotta walk.”

When Candice Haigler goes home for a weekend, she immediately notices the energy being used.

“I ask my mother, ‘Why are all these lights on?’ Even when I go to friends’ houses, I tell them they should be more energy-conscious, and I go around and turn off most of their lights,” she said. A junior accounting major who has lived on campus three years, Haigler moved to West Quad because “it was new, and I was interested in the energy-saving environment,” she said. “My roommate and I didn’t recycle at our other dorm, but here we’ve learned how to make things last longer and then we recycle almost everything. Right now, there is a battery-recycling program going on, so we’ve turned in all our old batteries.

“Students get involved in more activities here than they do at other dorms. Like when it was time to plant plants on the property this past fall, a lot of students got involved in that,” she said. “I’m applying to be a resident advisor here next year because the community is so great.”

Living and learning
Faculty research is an emerging area at West Quad, but already several faculty members across campus are using the complex to conduct their own environmental research.

Chemical engineering research professor Tom Davis will conduct fuel cell research. Laslo Marton, a biology professor, and his students use a variety of plants to filter rainwater that can, for example, be used to water shrubs, trees, and other plants around the complex. Art faculty member David Voros plans to fill the lobbies and hallways with students’ work that focuses on environmental themes.

“West Quad is a living laboratory for our faculty,” said Bruce Coull, director of USC’s School of the Environment and an organizer of the West Quad effort. “And the Learning Center will serve as a magnet to bring faculty and students to work together at the complex.”

Faculty and staff enjoy natural light-filled classroom space and seminar rooms in West Quad’s Living-Learning Center. Corporate guests have used the seminar rooms for sustainability and other related workshops.

“This spring, professors are teaching in the Living-Learning Center for the first time,” said Dow. “To be given classroom space here, we asked that the theme of the course address some aspect of sustainability in keeping with the mission of West Quad.”

Every day is Earth Day
At West Quad, students have access to four-station recycling centers located on every floor of each building. Residents are learning to save fruit peelings and other food waste, and a self-enclosed Earth Tub will turn that waste into landscape mulch.

Students at West Quad also enjoy a little competition. At the end of each semester, cash awards are made to the students living in the suites that used the least amount of electricity. Energy totals are posted on a Web site so students can track their usage. And they have help: room sensors detect motion and are programmed to turn lights on and off as people enter or exit a room.

Students attend entertainment events that include a free movie series featuring films with environmental themes, like Silkwood and Dr. Strangelove. A winter holiday art class encouraged students to trade in a conventional light bulb for an energy-saving fluorescent and then create an ornament out of the old bulb. A Super Bowl party used recycled and organic products. And final exam week takes on a whole new meaning when exam breaks include a free breakfast with all-natural foods and seated chair massages to promote relaxation.

A final event in April will celebrate the facility’s first year. It’s a party for all residents that will take place, naturally, on Earth Day.