It's a Green Life for Some at Arizona State

TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 4, 2009 -- In the heat of the Arizona desert, air conditioning is generally considered a necessity. But in one section of Barrett, the honors college at Arizona State University, free-flowing cool air has become somewhat of a luxury, a luxury that about 200 students are willing to do with less of this year.

A new, two-building, "sustainable" section of the Barrett residence halls opened in August as part of the new, $130 million, 8.2-acre campus that houses the honors college in Tempe. Called SHAB (Sustainability House at Barrett), it was developed in part by ASU students who said they wanted to do everything in their power to live in a way that's friendly to the environment.

Natalie Fleming, 20, a sophomore sustainability major, moved to SHAB from a large suite-style dorm room where she said she took full advantage of the limitless utilities.

"We didn't have a cap on air conditioning, and I don't think that's a good thing, because, honestly, we blasted it all the time," Fleming said. Now it will only go down to 75 degrees in the entire complex. "Seventy-five is actually a comfortable temperature, and I don't need to be spoiled with extra air conditioning," she said.

Aside from the air restrictions, SHAB is equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Using the university's Campus Metabolism Web site, students in SHAB are able to monitor energy use in the complex and compare it to the rest of campus.

For the honors college, going green was an exciting investment, according to Dean Mark Jacobs.

"It cost us 1.3 million extra dollars to build the building that houses the sustainable-living community to the specifications that we wanted," Jacobs said. "We believed in the students who were in that group, and we wanted to give them a living space that they wanted."

SHAB was paid for by the honors college and did not tap university funds, Jacobs said.

"We felt that caring, intelligent students coming in from high school to any college in the United States these days should have these issues in mind, and we wanted to encourage it as a college."

It doesn't cost extra to live in SHAB, but students must apply for SHAB housing, so "they know what they're getting themselves into," said Joe Canarie, 21.

Students like Canarie took an active part in designing the new community. Canarie worked directly with the college administration, project designers and architects to create a community in which green-minded students could live "green" easily and comfortably.

"You're always surrounded by people here who are trying to do the same thing," Canarie said. "Whether it's living sustainably or continuing to be a vegetarian, for example." Being part of a group makes the changes associated with living sustainably a little easier, he said.