“We hope it will demonstrate linkages to the local present and regional past and that it will do so in a way that is aesthetically beautiful, unconventional and ecologically thoughtful”

—SENS 386 class, spring ’01

The Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) House is an ecologically designed residential, demonstration and teaching facility constructed as part of the Berea College Ecovillage. The SENS House is largely self-reliant for energy, water and waste treatment, employing a wide range of technologies for energy conservation and production, water conservation, waste treatment and use of local materials in construction.

Four SENS students—the SENS House directors—live in the SENS House while developing and implementing educational programs in sustainable living and ecological design for the campus and community.