Morrison Will Reopen With a Touch of Green
Eat Your Wheaties,
Savor the Box
The Breakfast of
Champions is great
with milk, although
Duke and State fans
may opt for something
stronger when they
see the box cover that
hit stores in January.
It features a picture
of the court in the
Dean Smith Center
and a Carolina logo
almost as big as the
cereal’s own.
On the flip side, the
Heels are shown cutting down a net.
The self-proclaimed
No. 1 whole-grain
wheat flaked cereal
has been pasting
champions on its
boxes for 73 years,
starting with Lou
Gehrig. Michael Jordan
’ 86 flew off supermarket shelves in 1988.
The two-year renovation of Morrison Residence Hall is coming to a close, and it is
expected to reopen in August with a distinctly
environmental flair.
The 10-story brick high-rise on South Campus,
known to many for its 1960s architecture and lack of
air conditioning, will have a solar-powered water heating system, becoming the first campus building to use
renewable energy technology. It also will be the site of
a new program of theme housing for students interested in environmental issues.
The renewable energy component of the renovation
was initiated by students, and their work stands out on
Morrison’s flat roof: 179 solar panels, totaling 3,183 square
feet, power the residence hall’s solar hot water system.
Annual energy savings from the solar panels are
estimated at $11,275, according to Carolina’s sustainability Web site. “The system right now can generate
on a good, clear day, as much as 6,000 gallons a day
of hot water,” said Warren Jochem ’ 81 (MS), energy
conservation manager for the University.
The solar power will be particularly useful in the
“slam time” of showering and hot water use in the
morning. The building’s steam-powered air heating
system, Jochem said, will be used as backup for the
solar power.
DAN SEARS ’ 74
“Someone will flush a toilet, get online and see
that the energy usage in that part of the building
[goes] up,” said junior Jessi Kemp, chair of the environmental affairs committee of student government. Students will be able to reliably see energy savings when
lights are turned off or the thermostat temperature is
lowered. The building is divided into 12 zones that
can be monitored, divided by wing and floor. Using
this breakdown, students will be able to compete with
each other based on energy consumption.
The technology will be an important feature for
Morrison’s new Sustainability Learning Community,
an environment-oriented theme house.
Theme houses, such as the French, German and
Spanish language houses, aim to engage students in
learning, organizing programs on the theme and
bringing together students with a common interest.
Likely programs in the Sustainability Learning Community would be an environmental film seminar and
guest lecture series.
A $4 student fee — initiated by Liz Veazey ’04
through a renewable energy fee campaign in 2002 —
paid for $184,000 of the cost of Morrison’s solar panels. Students also helped acquire a $137,455 grant
from N.C.’s Energy Policy Council of the State
Energy Office to help fund the project.
Near the end of a two-year overhaul, Morrison is topped
with solar panels, the result of a student initiative to cut
energy consumption.
UNC Enters Battle Against High Housing Costs
Housing for UNC faculty and staff is in the price the houses below market value.
works on 63 acres of land on Homestead UNC also can buy that land back from homeown-Road, marking the University’s first attempt ers should they choose to sell it. Alternatively, property
to help with lower-cost housing. could be sold to other qualified buyers, Pinkney said.
Carolina Commons will provide 60 condominium “There’s an ownership interest that UNC would
units to UNC employees. Roughly 53 of the units will always maintain, which keeps the prices of the homes
be single-family detached homes, and 35 will be town down,” Pinkney said.
homes. The project is designed to address concerns that In accordance with Carrboro’s town ordinance, 15
many faculty and staff cannot afford to buy homes in percent of all units in subdivisions are reserved as
Chapel Hill and Carrboro. affordable housing. The sales price is roughly $142,000,
“We’d like to address a mix of incomes,” said said Marty Roupe, the development review administra-Dwayne Pinkney ’01 (PhD), assistant vice chancellor tor for Carrboro.
for finance and administration. A groundbreaking could The project also is raising the question of whether
come in the next two years. retired University employees would be eligible for the
The homes will be priced at 20 percent below mar- spaces. The idea has been posed to Chancellor James
ket value, said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor Moeser.
for facilities planning and construction. Because UNC More University involvement in creating low-cost
owns the land through the school’s endowment, it can housing may be seen in the future.
