Colby Green Project
Four new buildings are on the drawing board as part of a proposed campus expansion at Colby College in Waterville, ME. The project has been named the Colby Green Project. New buildings will house classrooms, computer labs, a center for the performing arts and a variety of alumni resources.
WEI was retained by the Portland, ME based firm Mohr & Seredin to evaluate the costs and best means of expanding the collegeís existing utility infrastructure to accommodate the future demands. Electrical service, telecommunications, domestic water, building heat and building cooling were all considered. The analysis also included a comparative study of the economics and environmental impacts of heating and cooling the new buildings with geothermal heat pump systems instead of relying on the existing campus utility plant and conventional chilling technology.
WEI took an integrated approach to the latter comparison by assessing the impacts of Colby's decision not only upon the existing utility plant, but upon its current energy suppliers as well. This allowed the college to understand the true cots and ramifications of each option under consideration with regard to airborne emissions levels, energy efficiency and economic performance.
The information provided by WEI was essential to the collegeís decision-making process, which concluded early this year when the decision was made to move forward with the extension of the campus green.