INSIDE BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
Mountainview readied for students
By : Katie Ellis
Each Mountainview suite includes two full baths and a living room. There are also lounges and study lounges on each floor, and Hunter and Marcy each have greatrooms with attached full kitchens. Laundry facilities are located on the ground floor of each building.
Both buildings also feature eight handicapped-accessible suites — one on each wing — equipped for wheelchair use. Two elevators in each building allow for access to upper floors.
According to Hilgrove Delancy, the University’s capital projects management coordinator, the Mountainview College rooms also have what he termed a fairly unusual heating and cooling system. “It’s called a valance system,” he said. “It’s commonly used in Europe, but is just beginning to be used in some parts of the U.S. and on some other college campuses.”
The valance system is a covered-pipe system installed near the ceiling of each room. Water runs through the pipes to cool in the summer and heat in the winter. Delancy said the valance system is energy-efficient and low-maintenance, making it cost-effective, and students will have control within a set temperature range through use of thermostats in each suite.
In addition, Hunter and Marcy halls are fully equipped with sprinklers, as well as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Steel is in place for the two halls set to come on line next fall — Cascade and Windham — and is being placed for the Appalachin Collegiate center. Fencing has been installed to separate the construction zone from the occupied residence halls, and no construction work will begin before 8:30 a.m.
Mountainview’s recreation fields are expected to be available for student use beginning September 11.
