When you walk through the front doors of Hillcrest on a Thursday afternoon and into the Orchard, a tech-packed lecture hall, you may see a visiting professor, activist, company board member, or other pioneer, fighter, or pillar of the environmental movement at the lectern. The Howard E. Woodin Colloquium Series, which takes place here, is an essential part of listening to, interacting with, and pushing forward environmental studies on campus and in the world.
The Franklin Environmental Center is home to the oldest undergraduate environmental studies program in the country as well the Sustainability Integration Office, the Environmental Outreach and Service Learning program, and the Middlebury Fellowships in Environmental Journalism.
The building, opened in 2008 after extensive adaptive reuse of an 1875 farmhouse, is Vermont’s first LEED Platinum-certified building. It uses 45 percent less energy than typical buildings of the same size, thanks in part to CFC-free insulating foam, energy-efficient windows, air locks, a geothermal exchange cooling system, and a rooftop solar panel array. The building is also full of local wood and stone as well as furniture made by local craftspeople.
531 College St.
Middlebury, VT 05753