Warren Wilson College, the first college or university in North Carolina with a LEED Gold Certified Building, now has a second Gold building on its campus.

The Village South residence hall, part of a two-building, 80-bed community that opened in August 2006, becomes the first dormitory in the state to achieve LEED Gold certification. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council that sets standards for the "design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings."

Designed and built with extensive input from students, the Village features apartment-style dorms and an arts-and-crafts, environmentally responsible design. The LEED Gold rating certifies that Village South meets several green building criteria, including benchmarks for energy and water conservation; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and waste send to landfills; and indoor environmental quality. The adjacent Village North dorm also seems likely to achieve LEED Gold, as its design is identical to Village South.

Village South follows in the green footsteps of the Doug and Darcy Orr Cottage, which houses the Warren Wilson College admission and advancement offices. In 2006, Orr Cottage became the second building of any type in North Carolina to achieve LEED Gold certification. By the end of this year, the college hopes to have a total of five LEED certified buildings, including the EcoDorm for which it is seeking Platinum certification - the loftiest LEED rating.