Ann’s House, a new residence hall now under construction at Alfred University will provide a model for future living quarters on campus.

Ann’s House is being built on a wooded hillside on the east side of Upper Campus Drive, just above the Ford Street Apartments. Dr. Joel Moskowitz, a 1961 alumnus of Alfred University and a member of its Board of Trustees, and his wife Ann, for whom the new residence will be named, provided the leadership gift to build the facility.

“Through their continued generosity to Alfred University, Joel and Ann Moskowitz are providing our students with a residence hall that will be the nucleus of a living-learning community,” said Alfred University President Charles M. Edmondson. He explained today’s students prefer smaller housing units and single rooms. “The smaller halls give students a better living-learning experience, and lead to greater student satisfaction and retention,” he said.

Forty-eight students will live in the 15,000-square-foot, three-story building, said Michael Neiderbach, director of Capital Projects and Legal Affairs for the University. There will be a shared bathroom and vestibule area for every two bedrooms. Plans call for a combined kitchen/laundry area on the first floor, as well as common living spaces on each floor.

The building will face the Ford Street Apartments and the site will provide off-street parking for residents and visitors in a lot located the residence hall. Because of the hillside location, access from the parking lot will be from the second floor. The building will have an elevator and be fully accessible.

He said the style and floor plan for Ann’s House will provide a template for additional housing the University hopes to build along Upper Campus Drive in the future. If the facilities are developed as planned, Ann’s House would anchor the south end and Joel’s House, also created with a gift from Joel and Ann Moskowitz, would anchor the north end.

Not only does its design make Ann’s House a template for future building on the campus, but it will also set a new standard in “green” construction on the AU campus. The building, designed by HBT Architects of Rochester NY, will be certified at the Silver level by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.. This rating system, developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), is based on site selection and design criteria as well as building system design and the selection of the materials and methods used to build the building.
Neiderbach said Ann’s House will be equipped with solar panels on the roof to “help meet base load electrical demand during daylight hours.”


The building will meet “green” criteria in other ways, with a high-efficiency heating system; low VOC (volatile organic compound) materials used for flooring , caulk and paint; low-e, thermopane windows; soy-based foam insulation; energy-efficient lighting and a heat-recovery system on exhaust fans.

The exterior will have natural stone and cement composite siding.

Neiderbach noted the insulation will be applied to exterior walls, rather than between the studs; doing so will make the building more efficient to heat and more air tight. Building materials are being selected based on their proximity to Alfred, their recycled material content and the overall effect of the material on the environment as well as their life cycle costs.

Joel Moskowitz is founder, president and chief executive officer of Ceradyne, Inc., headquartered in Costa Mesa, CA.