This post is related to STARS, AASHE's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System.

This summer, Unity College in Maine will start builing the fist passive house certified student residence in the country. This passive house will use 90% less energy to heat the building than standard building. The insulation in this house is so efficient that all you need to heat it is the heat produced by a hair dryer. The rest of the energy for this building will come from solar photovoltaic.
The house will be the residence to 10 Unity College students; It is desinged as a two story residence hall. There are 2 single rooms and 4 double rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen area and a common area to be shared by the students. Students who wish to live in the TerraHaus (the name that has been given to the passive house) have to be willing to live a sustainable life. They willl not be allowed to have personal microwaves, tvs or minifridges.
We hope that the fact that Unity College will be the fist college in the nation to have a passive will inspire other colleges and Universities to construct carbon neutral buildings in their campuses.