SOU Sustainability Council
Deer Creek Center Bathhouse
Selma, OR
Green Building Features
The Deer Creek Center is being jointly developed by the Siskiyou Field Institute and Southern Oregon University. The first phase of development of the Deer Creek Center included the following:
- Construction of a new bathhouse
- Installation of two pre-manufactured yurts
- A picnic shelter
- Code-compliance upgrades to the ranch house
- Infrastructure
- Site development
The donor for the bathhouse wished to have green building features incorporated into the building’s design. Energy efficiency was a major consideration in the design of the bathhouse. Electricity is the only utility available at the Deer Creek Center. Since usage of the bathhouse would be variable during the warmer months (depending on the scheduling of programs) and relatively light during the winter, a closed hydronic heating system (fully insulated) was installed in the concrete floor slab. The hydronic heating system is supplied by tankless, on-demand water heaters fed by propane. Water for the showers is pre-heated by a solar water heating system with six collectors on the bathhouse roof and 240 gallons of storage. Although the bathhouse has no windows, natural lighting is provided by eight solar tubes. When there is sufficient natural light in the bathhouse, sensors automatically shut off the interior lights.
To serve the ranch house, the bathhouse, and future structures, a commercial-quality septic system was installed on the campus. A small municipal-quality water treatment system was installed in the bathhouse to treat water pumped from a small reservoir on the property.
