RENDERINGS BY DOUG COOPER

Construction is underway for the Rachel Carson EcoVillage at Providence Heights, a sustainable, 35-unit cohabitation community with the goal of bringing a low-carbon, collaborative lifestyle to Western Pennsylvania.

“We should be all moved in by early 2026,” says Stefani Danes, the EcoVillage’s project manager and an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture.

Located on 8 acres along Cumberland Road in McCandless, the ecovillage property is owned by the Sisters of Divine Providence, who gifted the land adjacent to La Roche University and the Providence Heights Alpha School to the co-housing community.

Years in the making, the project has overcome barriers throughout the pandemic — as well as a major change in location after Chatham University announced in fall 2023 that it would no longer accommodate the ecovillage at its Eden Hall campus in Richland.

In the end, the plans worked out for the best, according to Danes, as both the ecovillage and Sisters of Divine Providence share a common objective centered around ecological justice.

Named for the well-known environmentalist Rachel Carson, the ecovillage is dedicated to sustainability and community.

“It is a great model for living well with neighbors,” Danes says.

RENDERING BY DOUG COOPER

Once someone becomes a resident of the community, they have access to a common house with a dining room, community kitchen, meeting spaces and two guest rooms. There are multiple trails that run through the village, and all residents will become a member of LaRoche’s Lifelong Learning program.

The sustainability aspect begins with the design and construction of each unit. The buildings will be insulated to trap in the heat and conserve the amount of energy being used; there will be no use of fossil fuels and the air will be ventilated.

“We know for sure that we will save about 85% of energy that otherwise would get wasted,” Danes says. “Our utility bills will be in the range of maybe $15 to $20 a month.”

Since this is a community effort, Danes says it will be easier to compost, recycle and reuse one another’s belongings. The ecovillage will continue to work with the Sisters of Divine Providence toward better sustainable living policies.

Although there are different co-housing communities throughout the country, Dane says the Rachel Carson EcoVillage is the first one to make its way to Western Pennsylvania.

“We see this as a demonstration project,” Danes says. “We’re fortunate to be working with La Roche where students can learn from the project, and we’d like to be able to offer that information to the public at large.”

To learn more about the Rachel Carson EcoVillage, visit here.