Williams College replaced an existing dormitory with the Garfield House, a suite-style residence hall designed to rigorous sustainability standards. The 16,500 sf facility houses up to 40 students across ten double and 20 single bedrooms along with a large common space, a full kitchen, and a billiard room.

The building is designed to take advantage of the greening of the power grid over time through an all-electric approach. The Passive House approach achieves high energy efficiency through super-insulation, triple glazing, natural ventilation for heat removal, and inexpensive, right-sized HVAC systems (incorporating energy recovery and radiant heating).

Vanderweil provided MEP/FP engineering for this new building along with teldata and security design. The engineering effort integrated sustainable design features such as high-efficiency mechanical equipment, motors, pumps, and DHW heaters; reduced operating water pressures; and energy-conserving distribution systems. The facility achieved LEED Gold.