Emmons Hall roommates Lisa Lubinsky and Keara Cromie have mixed feelings about the possible construction of a new residence hall in the Brody Complex.

MSU officials said Friday a 300-student building could be added between Emmons and Butterfield halls within five years. The new building would help house displaced students during renovations to other residence halls.

Lubinsky and Cromie said the site of the proposed hall bothered them.

"That's a bad place for it - it's going to be ugly," said Lubinsky, a biochemistry freshman.

Cromie, a pre-nursing freshman, said a new building would make the Brody Complex too crowded and destroy the area's green space.

"That would completely close off Brody from the rest of campus," she said. "If we keep building it up, it's going to look like (the University of) Michigan's campus - like a city."

Jeff Kacos, director of Campus Park and Planning, said the idea of the proposed hall is consistent with the university's 2020 Vision plan - an initiative to renovate buildings and increase green space on campus.

He disagrees that by building a new hall along Harrison Avenue that the area's beauty will be compromised. If anything, he said, the quality of the existing green space will be improved by screening the road from the courtyard.

Environmental concerns are also on the minds of some MSU faculty and staff.

Terry Link, director of the Office of Campus Sustainability, hopes the university will follow in the footsteps of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, by constructing the new hall as a "green building."

Link said green buildings are designed to be efficient by conserving materials and using renewable energy, which would help both the environment and the need to house students.

Green buildings must meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, which might include increased ventilation, recycling waste water to drinking water and an outdoor view.

"It would enhance all things simultaneously," he said.

Link suggested the location be an important factor to consider and said a green building should be given a prominent location to inspire more green buildings.

"I am against putting up any building on campus if it does not meet green building standards," he said.