Chatham University’s Eden Hall Offers Hope for Living Through Climate Change
Eden Hall in Western Pennsylvania is an exemplary model of sustainability says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the 400-acre Eden Hall campus, in Richland Township only 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, is a climate solutions incubator, fueled by a microgrid of geothermal, solar, and wind energy. It should set the standard for sustainable living and architecture in Western Pennsylvania and an example of what is possible.
The campus has its own wastewater treatment process, for example, recycling up to 6000 gallon a day of rainwater for drinking and washing, cleaning it through a natural process, and then again for irrigation. Even the walkways are permeable. A large portion of the campus is under conservation easement, meaning that it must remain undeveloped.
The campus also hosts its own certified organic farm, which produces year-round inside high tunnels — plastic-covered solar thermal greenhouses — that keep temperatures up through the winter. Four campus buildings are Platinum LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, the highest rating awarded to green architecture in the nation. And all of it has been built in only 10 years.
Renewable electricity is produced by 400 solar panels. Extra electricity is fed back into the energy grid.
