Macalester College Eco-House

Macalester College Eco-House is one of the many specialty housing options available to students at Macalester College after their first year. The Eco-House is the project of Chris Wells, assistant professor of environmental studies, and began in fall 2007 with the move-in of four student residents. In the summer of 2007, prior to its opening, the Eco-House underwent significant "green" renovations in order to make the 1950s-era house livable and to decrease its environmental footprint.

Macalester College Eco-House
General information
Location200 Vernon Street, St. Paul, Minnesota
Website
https://www.macalester.edu/ecohouse

The vision for the project

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The Eco-House is intended as a place for students to "explore practical green-living lifestyles, to test the effectiveness of new green technologies, and to work with community partners to develop better resources on green renovations and sustainable lifestyles".[1] The house is also intended as a laboratory for testing the cost effectiveness and energy use of a variety of technologies and home renovations. Eco-House residents also host events, and workshops to draw attention to environmental issues on campus and to share energy-saving and environmentally friendly living techniques with the Macalester-Groveland community.

Renovations

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The renovations for the Macalester College Eco-House took place in the summer of 2007 and were conducted with a budget of $50,000 with the intent of making both affordable changes and including a few showcase items for the house that could be used as examples of environmentally friendly renovations for the college community.

These renovations included:[2]

Community Garden

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The grounds of the Macalester College Eco-House includes a student-designed edible forest garden. The garden is managed by the student organization MULCH and features environmentally friendly native plants chosen to attract beneficial insects, promote soil fertility and provide food.[3] The Eco-House is home to Macalester's flock of backyard chickens, also tended to by MULCH.[4]

Press Coverage

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The Eco-House has also been the subject of much attention in local media, with large media outlets such as the Star Tribune newspaper[5] and Minnesota Public Radio News[6] both doing stories on the project, as well as The Villager[7] and a variety of Macalester College publications.[8][9]

References

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  1. ^ "Macalester College EcoHouse".
  2. ^ "Macalester College EcoHouse - House Features". Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  3. ^ "Macalester College EcoHouse - Landscaping". www.macalester.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  4. ^ "MULCH - Chickens". www.macalester.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  5. ^ Carlson, Kim. "Reading, Writing and Being Green". Star Tribune.
  6. ^ Hughes, Art. "Macalester's eco-house is both student housing and lab". MPR News.
  7. ^ Crotti, Nancy. "Mac house is model of green remodeling" (PDF). The Villager.
  8. ^ LaChance, Danny. "Eco Abode" (PDF). Macalester Today.
  9. ^ Howland, Emily. "Is it as earthy crunchy as it sounds? Eco House residents reveal all" (PDF).