LEED Platinum features
Interactive, real-time data for energy use and solar production in the Franklin Environmental Center
“This building is a powerful example that green architecture doesn't demand a cleared site and a new foundation—that we know tricks enough these days to make any building work both for its users and for the planet.”
Bill McKibben
Scholar-in-Residence in environmental studies
“I love that even with the new updates, the building hasn’t completely lost its old quaint country vibes. You really have the feel of being in an old farmhouse.”
Julie Erickson ’08
ES/conservation biology major
Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest
Completed 2007
LEED Certified Platinum 2008
Instead of constructing a new building for its environmental programs, Middlebury created an exciting model of resource conservation and energy efficiency through the adaptive reuse of an historic 1875 Vermont farmhouse. Completed in June 2007, the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest serves as the center of environmental leadership and learning at Middlebury, creating a much needed hub for students, staff and faculty to gather and share ideas.
In 2008, the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest received LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council, the highest designation awarded for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This was the first building in Vermont to achieve LEED Platinum, and seventh in the nation under LEED NC 2.2 standards. Local materials, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, groundwater exchange air-conditioning, energy efficient windows and lights, low-flow faucets, and solar panels are just a few of the sustainable features of his building. More on sustainable building features...
Fostering connections to solve environmental challenge
The renovation of this building, which over the years served as a women’s dormitory, a classroom space, and faculty offices, illustrates how sustainability can be uniquely rooted in history and place. As Middlebury President Ronald D. Liebowitz said, "With the College’s ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability, this renovation marks a new milestone in bringing historic Vermont buildings up to the sustainability standards so critical to our future.”
The Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest is now home to the Dean of Environmental Affairs, the Environmental Studies program, the Sustainability Integration Office, the Environmental Outreach and Service Learning program, and the Middlebury Fellowships in Environmental Journalism. There are 14 staff and faculty offices, cozy meeting spaces, study carrels, the Lintilhac Senior Seminar Studio, and The Orchard, a high-tech lecture hall for College events including the weekly Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series.
