Carolina blue is always the color people associate with UNC. The housing department is one of many campus organizations trying to paint Chapel Hill another color: green.
From sustainability living-learning communities to “Turn off the lights!” stickers, UNC Housing has multiple initiatives in place to increase the environmental consciousness of on-campus living.
Each dorm has recycling bins in every room, and there are also boxes outside buildings and inside lobbies for old tennis shoes and batteries. Showers in the dorms use low-flow shower heads, and all public bathrooms utilize dual flush toilets. When doing laundry, signs encourage students to use cold water. Outdoor lights and sensor switches in the laundry rooms help keep low-traffic areas illuminated.
UNC UNC“We want to protect the environment and we want to be good stewards of the students’ rent dollars,” Lofgren said.
Such environmentally conscious practices led Morrison Residence Hall, which Lofgren calls “our poster child,” to become the first building in the country to win the EPA’s National Building Competition.
Morrison’s 172 solar thermal panels provide hot water for parts of the building, and the Morrison “dashboard” in the lobby allows students to see how much energy each floor is using.
Housing also follows the guidelines from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) when constructing new buildings, including residence halls.
