EcoVillage LLC
EcoVillage LLC: An Immersive Living Experience at Loy Farm
For more than a decade, Loy Farm has served as home to Elon’s Center for Environmental Studies and
a thriving hub of experiential learning for students, faculty, and staff who are passionate about sustainability and environmental preservation.
Elon has long envisioned a residential community located at Loy Farm, with students applying what they learn in the classroom to tending the farm and living out sustainable principles. That vision is now reality as Elon launches an exciting project to build a new sustainable living-learning community, dubbed the EcoVillage LLC, that will be a showcase for sustainable architecture and hands-on learning for students, opportunities that are unavailable at many colleges and universities.
In Fall 2024 the first six houses (of what will be 12 sustainably designed homes by Fall 2026) were opened on the eastern edge of Loy Farm as a model of green architecture and engaged, experiential learning. Twenty four students will live in harmony with nature while learning and embracing sustainable practices that they will carry into the world as informed global citizens.
Residents will contribute to the wellbeing and care of the LLC while faculty and staff advisors will guide activities and outreach. This LLC complements the work of Elon’s Sustainability LLC for first-year students, currently located in the Colonnades Neighborhood.
EcoVillage House Descriptions
House 1
Designers: Elon University students & atelier CHAREST + associates llc.
Double roof structure with plywood panel cladding.
Sustainability Strategies:
- Elevated pier foundation system to reduce disturbance to the land.
- Double roof system for shading and cooling load reduction
- Robust envelope design and passive strategies to limit system load
- Low embodied carbon materials
House 2
Designer: Stitch Architecture
Two story small home allows for limited site impact.
Sustainability Strategies:
- Simple foundation and small roof area reduces construction costs and provides limited impervious surface reducing disturbance to the land.
- Rainwater captured creatively for use for landscaping
- Low embodied carbon materials
Home Energy Rating System (HERS) ERI = 48
House 3
Designer: Haven Design Build
Elevated “Tree House” with wood structure.
Sustainability Strategies:
- Rooftop solar PV array
- Low embodied carbon materials
Home Energy Rating System (HERS) ERI = 51
House 4
Designer: Raleigh Architecture
Low operational and embodied energy carbon home
Sustainability Strategies:
- Robust envelope design and passive strategies to limit system load
- Rooftop solar PV array
- Low embodied carbon materials
Home Energy Rating System (HERS) ERI = 54
House 5
Designer: Heirloom Builders
This home highlights various water management features.
Sustainability Strategies:
- Solar thermal water heating
- Non potable water capture and treatment
- Radiant floor heating
- Low embodied carbon materials
Home Energy Rating System (HERS) ERI = 33
House 6
Designer: Haven Design Build
This home is integrated into the landscape
Sustainability Strategies:
- Low site impact with cut and fill balance
- Green Roof
- Thermal mass envelope
- Low embodied carbon materials
Home Energy Rating System (HERS) ERI = 55
EcoVillage LLC – At a Glance:
- 12 sustainably designed homes (6 by Fall 2024 and the remaining by Fall 2026).
- EcoVillage Student Commons Building – includes a community kitchen, study/meeting room, laundry, and a university bathroom.
- Additional outdoor gathering spaces.
- Approximately 600-square-foot residences.
- Two bedrooms, full kitchen, shared bathroom, common area, and porch.
- More coverage of the EcoVillage can be found on Today@Elon.
- Eligible students are sophomores-seniors who have lived in campus housing for two prior terms already.
- Juniors/Seniors at EcoVillage are eligible for the 300 block meal plan.
- Students will be charged at the single room rate and the houses will open/close during break periods, Thanksgiving, Spring, and Summer, just like residence halls.
- Limited summer housing options at EcoVillage will be available through the summer housing application process, with priority given to current EcoVillage residents, future EcoVillage residents, and those with research/academic interests tied to Loy Farm.
- To apply to live in the Eco Village LLC, please review the application process here.
- The syllabus outlining the activities of the LLC, including the required linked course, can be found here.
- For more information, please reach out to the LLC advisors below:
Students begin work on Loy Farm Living-Learning Community, a ‘truly groundbreaking’ project