Northland College is close to completing the $4.1 million Living Learning Center, a 32,000-square-foot energy-efficient residence hall.

Due for completion in August, the Center has been designed to reflect the College’s strong environmental emphasis. “It’s been our mission for the last 25 years to be an environmental liberal arts college,” said Tom Wojciechowski, director of student development. “If we put up new buildings, they should show what we’re teaching and employ new technologies so we can study them and see how they do in terms of energy efficiency and impact on the environment.”

The Center will receive power from a 3.2 kW array of solar panels and a 20 kW wind turbine on a 120-foot tower. It will also feature passive solar heating in its south wing, solar hot water heaters, two composting toilets, high-efficiency lighting, water-saving fixtures, greenhouses for food production and environmentally sensitive materials like certified wood and linoleum floors. Students living in the building will conduct research on the building to test its performance.

The building is estimated to be 50 percent more efficient than a typical building built to local code. It was designed by Hammel-Green-Abrahamson Architects of Minneapolis, with Frank Tomlinson Co. of Ashland, WI, serving as general contractor. Energy modeling was funded by the Green Commercial Buildings Program of the Energy Center of Wisconsin (a local utility company).

Contact: Jim Miller, Public Relations Office, Northland College Ashland, WI 54806; 715-682-1216; fax: 715-682-1690.