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Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village
Read about just how green these new residences are...
Take a tour of the new buildings with Channel 2 News
 Speaking of her delight in her first dorm experience, 84 years back, philanthropist and civic leader Kathryn W. Davis cut a large green ribbon to open College of the Atlantic's new Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village on Thursday.
The residences - three duplex buildings set in a circle beside the ocean at the south end of campus - are designed to hold 51 students, but have only a minimal impact on the environment.
"For me the best part of today is that it brings together a
 bouquet with most of 'my loves,' said Davis: "my family, my beloved Mount Desert Island, education, students-including international students-and an environmentally friendly project at one of the most environmentally friendly colleges in the world."
Davis, a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Public Service, who this year celebrated her 101st birthday by giving 101 students $10,000 gifts to undertake projects promoting peace, spoke to a crowd of some 150 members of the College of the Atlantic community. Present were students, staff, faculty, trustees and friends, as well as workers who spent the last year building the residences.
 Because of the construction design, which includes a foot of insulation within the buildings, the 51 students will be housed through a Maine winter at the heating load of a single family home. Heat will come from renewable wood pellets, a local industry. The buildings are constructed with composting toilets, minimizing the load on the local water and sewage system, and warm grey water is recycled to warm incoming hot water.
David Hales, president of College of the Atlantic, believes these residences, designed by Coldham & Hartman Architects of Amherst, MA, will be as green as any in the nation's college and university system. Speaking at the opening, Hales called the dorms, "a smart investment in the future of COA . . . as close to sustainable as buildings can be."
Calling the buildings a major step toward achieving our declaration of independence from fossil fuels,
 Hales added, "We teach that the opportunity to do the right thing is tantamount to the responsibility to do the right thing," and "a vivid demonstration that commitment is the parent of accomplishment."
At the close of the ceremonies, two of Davis' great grandchildren, Julia and Spencer Moffat, held the ends of a large blue-green ribbon, which Davis, along with some twenty COA students, cut into smaller lengths. Students will begin moving into the new residences next week for pre-orientation sessions at the college.
College of the Atlantic was founded in 1969 on the premise that education should go beyond understanding the world as it is, to enabling students to actively shape its future. A leader in environmental stewardship and experiential education, COA has pioneered a distinctive interdisciplinary approach to learning-human ecology-that develops the kinds of creative thinkers and doers who can lead all sectors of society to promote sustainable ecosystems while meeting compelling and growing human needs.
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