Bard College Residences Honored With Passive House Certification for Energy Efficiency
Bard College’s North Campus Residence Complex. Photo by Bilyana Dimitrova ’99
Bard College is pleased to announce that all four of the residence buildings of its North Campus Residence Complex on the College’s Annandale campus have achieved the Passive House Certification from the Passive House Institute (PHI), an organization that sets rigorous energy-efficient building standards. Certification from PHI is recognized worldwide as one of the most demanding and respected standards in building science, requiring commitment, collaboration, and attention to detail from the owner, design team, and construction team alike. This achievement reflects Bard’s long-standing commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, which the College has prioritized and invested in for over 30 years.
“Bard is pleased to be an early adopter among US institutions of higher education to have been awarded the PHI certification for a residential complex of this size,” said Taun Toay, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Bard College. “In combination with our decades of leadership in the use of geothermal heat exchange systems, we are making strides to reach our pledge to be a climate neutral institution.”
The new residence halls are completely geothermal, with each building connected to a wellfield of 14-17 boreholes to provide high-efficiency heating and cooling, and are some of the most energy efficient buildings on campus. Bard College has been a leader and early adopter of geothermal and heat pump technology, with systems dating to the late 1980s. Nearly 50% of the main campus building area utilizes geothermal technology for heating and cooling, accounting for over 40 buildings on campus, and it is the default for all new construction projects. There are over 630 geothermal wells across campus, hidden beneath the surface.
Bard’s North Campus Residence Complex and the Maya Lin Performing Arts Studio, both of which opened this year, continue Bard’s legacy of pursuing sustainability best practices. Bard’s Office of Sustainability also leads multiple initiatives, including the conversion of the existing Stevenson Library to geothermal heating and cooling, a campus-wide commitment to renewable energy (including over 1MW of on-site solar capacity and developing a micro-hydro system at its Saw Kill Creek dam), and upgrading nearly all interior and exterior lighting to LED, to bring the College closer to fulfilling its pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
Additionally, the North Campus Residence Complex, constructed in collaboration with architecture firm KPF, design studio CIVILIAN, and project management firm DBI Projects, was honored earlier this year with a 2026 DOE Better Projects Award, which recognizes innovative, industry-leading accomplishments in implementing energy, water, and waste saving measures. The North Campus dorms and the Stevenson Library received 2026 ACEC awards for engineering excellence.
Post Date: 08-05-2026
“Bard is pleased to be an early adopter among US institutions of higher education to have been awarded the PHI certification for a residential complex of this size,” said Taun Toay, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Bard College. “In combination with our decades of leadership in the use of geothermal heat exchange systems, we are making strides to reach our pledge to be a climate neutral institution.”
The new residence halls are completely geothermal, with each building connected to a wellfield of 14-17 boreholes to provide high-efficiency heating and cooling, and are some of the most energy efficient buildings on campus. Bard College has been a leader and early adopter of geothermal and heat pump technology, with systems dating to the late 1980s. Nearly 50% of the main campus building area utilizes geothermal technology for heating and cooling, accounting for over 40 buildings on campus, and it is the default for all new construction projects. There are over 630 geothermal wells across campus, hidden beneath the surface.
Bard’s North Campus Residence Complex and the Maya Lin Performing Arts Studio, both of which opened this year, continue Bard’s legacy of pursuing sustainability best practices. Bard’s Office of Sustainability also leads multiple initiatives, including the conversion of the existing Stevenson Library to geothermal heating and cooling, a campus-wide commitment to renewable energy (including over 1MW of on-site solar capacity and developing a micro-hydro system at its Saw Kill Creek dam), and upgrading nearly all interior and exterior lighting to LED, to bring the College closer to fulfilling its pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
Additionally, the North Campus Residence Complex, constructed in collaboration with architecture firm KPF, design studio CIVILIAN, and project management firm DBI Projects, was honored earlier this year with a 2026 DOE Better Projects Award, which recognizes innovative, industry-leading accomplishments in implementing energy, water, and waste saving measures. The North Campus dorms and the Stevenson Library received 2026 ACEC awards for engineering excellence.
Post Date: 08-05-2026