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UNC Asheville's campus holds dozens of underground wells dug as deep into the ground as the lower limit of a skyscraper is tall.

Completely hidden under tons of soil, the wells are geothermal heat pumps that heat and cool campus buildings using the ambient temperature of the soil beneath students' feet.

"There are actually several 500-foot wells under the mini-quad," Facilities Electrical Engineer Tom Baldwin said.

Geothermal heat and cooling involves U-shaped tubes inserted into wells hundreds of feet deep. "It's an emerging technology," Baldwin said. "We had trouble finding contractors in this area familiar with the process."

According to Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Operations Steven Baxley, Asheville's soil temperatures are stable all year at a comfortable 55 to 65 degrees, no matter the season. In summer, the soil temperature cools the liquid in the pipes; in winter, the soil heats the cold liquid.

The tubes pump liquid out of the building and into the earth, transferring energy and keeping new campus buildings like New Hall comfortable year round.

"It's really cool," said Alan King, UNCA Facilities Mechanical Engineer.

In addition to innovative geothermal heating and cooling, New Hall also has a "green roof" composed of a layer of soil covered in grass and landscaping plants. Walking through the glass doors at the back of the lobby reveals what looks like a walled garden complete with patio tables, grass, flowering black-eyed susans and a few still-blooming purple asters.

The garden is actually one story off the ground. Visitors to the courtyard stand over New Hall classrooms on a garden roof meant to reduce heating and cooling costs and also provide a healthier destination for stormwater than the nearest storm drain.

Despite cutting-edge green features like geothermal energy and a green roof, New Hall lacks the coveted certification under LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. LEED certification is commonly the crowning achievement for organizations that want to save money, build a healthy building and use less energy, and enjoy the cachet that comes with building green.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is an independent, third-party verification that a building project is environmentally responsible and a healthy place to live and work. LEED certification awards points for energy-saving features like changing rooms for those who bike to work, zero-irrigation landscaping and the use of natural light.

The LEED certification is point-based, allowing users to rack up points for checking off items in the Building Council's list of desirables. For example, LEED awards points for using recyclable carpeting. But not using carpeting at all, Baxley noted, is actually the more sustainable choice.

"You can follow LEED and make the wrong decision," he said. "Choosing it to chase points can put you where you are not making the right decision."

But, he acknowledged, "LEED forces you to have a conversation you ought to have."

Some new campus buildings were considered but rejected for LEED certification. The certification can add thousands of dollars to the cost of a building in documentation costs alone, as builders are forced to provide documentation that construction materials really do meet LEED standards, Baxley said.

"We proposed LEED for New Hall, and it was pretty clear early on it was cost-prohibitive," Baxely said. "You can be LEED certified and have that plaque, or put a solar panel on your roof. I'd rather spend money on the features of the building."

Baxley still hopes to certify the Sam Millar Facilities Management Complex, UNCA's current flagship green buildings, under LEED standards.

As well as geothermal heat and area rugs rather than carpeting, Millar's design includes familiar green technology like solar panels as well as less familiar green design features. The complex has recycled insulation, a cistern that catches and reuses wastewater, and "bioretention ponds" that, like green roofs, reduce the amount of storm water entering local rivers and lakes.

Stormwater runoff is a concern at UNCA, where designs to manage and reduce it includes not only porous pavement but chunks cut out of the curb. Made near the new cobblestone street crossings by Zageir Hall and Carol Belk Theater, literal cuts in the University Heights curb guide runoff away from storm drains and into the soil surrounding campus landscaping.

By Zageir, the cuts also guide stormwater through a bridge-covered, tree-lined pond.

According to Bridget O'Hara, communications specialist for NEMAC, a UNCA-based environmental science outreach organization, despite its familiarity and seeming harmlessness, runoff is a very real health and safety concern.

"The current status quo is storm drains. Every drop of water goes directly to the river. So when it rains, instead of making its way through the soil to the river slowly and naturally over months or years, stormwater reaches the river in hours," she said.

A consequence of the storm drain system fast-tracking water to the river is flooding, she said.

"Even small floods cause damage to property," O'Hara said, noting that stormwater also carries trash and pollutants into the river. This in turn affects the quality of local drinking water, the health of the river ecosystem and quality of the river water people fish, swim and play in, she said.

Green design elements in UNCA's newest buildings do not just re-route runoff and help safeguard local water quality. Some save the college tens of thousands of dollars a year, according to officials.

Green-designed New Hall, completed in 2006, is 31,855 sq. feet Carmichael Hall, the aging building facing it built forty years earlier, is slightly smaller at 31,441 sq. feet.

According to UNCA Control Systems Specialist Norm Richards, Carmichael's expenses for heating and cooling totaled $29,180 for the fiscal year 2007-2008. New Hall's expenses for the same period were $5,918, a fraction of Carmichael's consumption.

Overall, campus utility costs continue to decline, according to King.

Rhodes Hall and Rhodes Tower could be next to get the green treatment.

"We might use geothermal there, too," Baxley said.

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