OBERLIN — Oberlin College football players Jim Adkins of Amherst and Zach Kisley of Chicago are all settled in at the $17 million Robert Kahn Hall, the newest — and greenest — dormitory on campus.

Each double room is individually climate-controlled, and the air conditioning shuts off automatically if they open a window.

The super-efficient lights have settings for activities ranging from hitting the books to lounging around.
“If you’re not moving, they shut off,” said Adkins, 18, an economics major.

Classes start Tuesday but some of the nearly 3,000 students — mostly football players and other athletes in fall sports — have been settled for several weeks now.

Adkins and Kisley said they are having the time of their lives.

The football team is “looking good” and being in a brand-new building is pretty exciting, said Kisley, 18, a pre-med student.

Plus, he has Adkins — a local guy — as a roommate to show him what’s fun in Lorain County.

Sustainability will be a huge topic this year as the college and city play their role as part of the Clinton Climate Initiative, college spokesman Scott Wargo said.

The hall is named in honor of the late Robert Kahn, who graduated in 1955 and bestowed many gifts on his alma mater, including partial funding of the college’s $2.2 million track that opened in 2008.

The dorm is for freshmen and everyone moving in has pledged to make environmental sustainability a way of life. The majority of incoming residents signed an agreement that they won’t bring a car to campus, that they will conserve water and energy and will do what they can to minimize their negative impact on the environment.

The building, which is expected to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certification, has an interlock system that automatically shuts off the heat or air conditioning in rooms when windows are opened.

It also has clotheslines in the laundry rooms and a compost tumbler.

Students will meet with resident assistants, compost coordinators, the resident director and the dean in residence to decide on community standards for sustainable living.

Along the way, they will work with Colin Koffel, a recent Oberlin graduate who holds a fellowship in the Office of Environmental Sustainability.

Meanwhile, area merchants said the city really comes alive as Labor Day approaches and students and their parents arrive.

A lot of those students wind up in the Ben Franklin and Mindfair Books buying daily necessities, owner Krista Long said.

“You have a community that goes from 6,000 to 9,000 people almost overnight,” she said.

Dave Gibson, who operates Gibson’s Bakery with his father, Allyn W. Gibson, and son, Allyn D. Gibson, said the arrival of students and their parents is a lot of fun.

“It’s definitely more lively,” he said.

Students like the cheeses, breads and cookies baked on site, including the chocolate pecan butter cookies that are made the same way as his ancestor Orcemus Gibson did in the 1800s, he said.

The college is planning a gala weekend Oct. 11 and 12 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies, which was named the most important green building since 1980 by Architect Magazine.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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