Bowdoin’s newest residential hall, at 52 Harpswell Road, was completed this summer. Students moved into the house in early September. This video gives a sense of the building in progress and after completion.
The residence is LEED-certified silver. To make it green, the College took advantage of what was already there — a former nursing home, one that had private bathrooms attached to many of its bedrooms. By renovating the old building rather than building from the ground up, Bowdoin avoided the energy costs of producing a new structure with all new building supplies.
Other green updates include a new heating and hot water system that run on natural gas. The efficient boiler uses variable speed pumping, pushing out hot water on demand to avoid burning up extra fuel. The builders also added foam insulation to the foundation to avoid heat loss, and they recycled all their construction waste.
The dorm, open to sophomores, juniors and seniors, has an organic garden and a 19th-century barn in its backyard, as well as a bike path connecting it to the Coffin Street parking lot and Bowdoin’s campus.
