The U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools, working in conjunction with its founding sponsor, United Technologies Corp., released its inaugural Best of Green Schools 2011 list recognizing school administrators and government leaders in 10 categories for their efforts to create sustainable learning environments.
Recipient schools and regions from across the nation - from K-12 to higher education - were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure. Their commitments to measurable and innovative sustainable building goals serve as models for schools and campuses everywhere.
According to published reports, green schools save on average $100,000 per year on operating costs - enough to hire two new teachers, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 5,000 textbooks. On average, green schools use 33 percent less energy and 32 percent less water than conventionally constructed schools, and if all new U.S. school construction and renovation went green today, the total energy savings alone would be $20 billion over the next 10 years.
The recipients include:
- Moment for the Movement - U.S. Department of Education, Green Ribbon Schools: Green Ribbon Schools is the first comprehensive and coordinated federal initiative to focus on the intersection of environment, health and education.
- Region - Sacramento area: Mayor Kevin Johnson has led the charge to bring together mayors and superintendents from across the Northern California region to create a $100 million revolving loan fund for green school retrofits.
- State - Ohio: With 315 LEED registered and certified projects, including 19 schools registered in 2011, Ohio leads the nation with more green school projects underway than any other state.
- City - Philadelphia: The School District of Philadelphia made significant steps in 2011 toward the greening of the city's 291 public schools.
- School - Lake Mills Middle School (Lake Mills, Wisc.): In March 2011, Lake Mills Middle School became the first public school in the nation to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
- Higher Ed Innovator - University of Texas at Dallas: The University's new LEED Platinum Student Services Building, which was the recipient of this year's Innovation in Green Building Award, was designed to improve departmental efficiency and interaction, includes terra-cotta shades on the building's exterior to provide a unique energy efficient shading strategy and was built $1.1 million under budget.
- Collaborators - Kentucky Reps. Jim DeCesare (R) and Mary Lou Marzian (D): This bipartisan team has led Kentucky's green school efforts and is a model for teaming on green school collaboration. Together, they've worked with their colleagues in the Kentucky General Assembly to unanimously adopt resolutions in support of green schools, and have encouraged other states to work across party lines on similar efforts.
- Convener - Boston: In September 2011, Mayor Menino hosted the Research Summit on Childhood Health and School Buildings, which brought together a team of interdisciplinary researchers to explore the connection between school facilities and student health. Boston's public school district is also home to one of the first Center for Green Schools Fellows - a sustainability coordinator who will work within the school district for three years, bringing together faculty, administration, facilities staff, teachers and students to advance whole-district sustainability initiatives.
- Policy makers - District of Columbia City Council: In May 2010, the Washington, D.C. council unanimously passed the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, building upon the District's existing LEED Silver requirement and encouraging schools to achieve LEED Gold certification. 2011 updates to the bill included participation in the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools program, making D.C. the first - before any state - to sign up for the voluntary federal program.
- K-12 Innovation - Public-Private partnership in Illinois: A report outlining a plan to green all K-12 schools in Illinois was released in March 2011 as a result of a public-private partner. BD+C
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
Iowa surgery center addresses both inpatient and outpatient care
The 12,000-person community of Carroll, Iowa, has a new $28 million surgery center to provide both inpatient and outpatient care. Minneapolis-based healthcare design firm Horty Elving headed up the four-story, 120,000-sf project for St. Anthony’s Regional Hospital. The center’s layout is based on a circular process flow, and includes four 800-sf operating rooms with poured rubber floors to reduce leg fatigue for surgeons and support staff, two substerile rooms between each pair of operating rooms, and two endoscopy rooms adjacent to the outpatient prep and recovery rooms. Recovery rooms are clustered in groups of four. The large family lounge (left) has expansive windows with views of the countryside, and television monitors that display coded information on patient status so loved ones can follow a patient’s progress.
| Feb 11, 2011
Grocery store anchors shopping center in Miami arts/entertainment district
18Biscayne is a 57,200-sf urban retail center being developed in downtown Miami by commercial real estate firm Stiles. Construction on the three-story center is being fast-tracked for completion in early 2012. The project is anchored by a 49,200-sf Publix market with bakery, pharmacy, and café with outdoor seating. An additional 8,000 sf of retail space will front Biscayne Boulevard. The complex is in close proximity to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the downtown Miami entertainment district, and the Omni neighborhood, one of the city’s fast-growing residential areas.
| Feb 11, 2011
Chicago architecture firm planning one of China’s tallest towers
Chicago-based Goettsch Partners was commissioned by developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd. to design a new 294,570-sm mixed-use tower in Tianjin, China. The Tianjin R&F Guangdong Tower will be located within the city’s newly planned business district, and at 439 meters it will be one of China’s tallest buildings. The massive complex will feature 134,900 sm of Class A office space, a 400-key, five-star hotel, 55 condominiums, and 8,550 sm of retail space. The architects are designing the tower with multi-story atriums and a high-performance curtain wall to bring daylight deep into the building, thereby creating deeper lease spans. The project is currently finishing design.
| Feb 11, 2011
Two projects seek to reinvigorate Los Angeles County medical center
HMC Architects designed two new buildings for the Los Angeles County Martin Luther King, Jr., Medical Center as part of a $360 million plan to reinvigorate the campus. The buildings include a 120-bed hospital, which involves renovation of an existing tower and several support buildings, and the construction of a new multi-service ambulatory care center. The new facilities will have large expanses of glass at all waiting and public areas for unobstructed views of downtown Los Angeles. A curved glass entrance canopy will unite the two buildings. When both projects are completed—the hospital in 2012 and the ambulatory care center in 2013—the campus will have added more than 460,000 sf of space. The hospital will seek LEED certification, while the ambulatory care center is targeting LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable community center to serve Angelinos in need
Harbor Interfaith Services, a nonprofit serving the homeless and working poor in the Harbor Area and South Bay communities of Los Angeles, engaged Withee Malcolm Architects to design a new 15,000-sf family resource center. The architects, who are working pro bono for the initial phase, created a family-centered design that consolidates all programs into a single building. The new three-story space will house a resource center, food pantry, nursery and pre-school, and administrative offices, plus indoor and outdoor play spaces and underground parking. The building’s scale and setbacks will help it blend with its residential neighbors, while its low-flow fixtures, low-VOC and recycled materials, and energy-efficient mechanical equipment and appliances will help it earn LEED certification.
| Feb 11, 2011
Texas megachurch inspired by yesteryear’s materials, today’s design vocabulary
The third phase of The First Baptist Church of Pasadena, Texas, involves construction of a new 115,000-sf worship center addition. Currently in design by Zeigler Cooper, the project will include a 2,500-seat worship center (with circular layout and space for a 50-person orchestra and 200-person choir), a 500-seat chapel (for weddings, funerals, and special events), and a prayer room. The addition will connect to the existing church and create a Christian Commons for education, administration, music, and fellowship. The church asked for a modern design that uses traditional materials, such as stone, brick, and stained glass. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer.
| Feb 11, 2011
Apartment complex caters to University of Minnesota students
Twin Cities firm Elness Swenson Graham Architects designed the new Stadium Village Flats, in the University of Minnesota’s East Bank Campus, with students in mind. The $30 million, six-story residential/retail complex will include 120 furnished apartments with fitness rooms and lounges on each floor. More than 5,000 sf of first-floor retail space and two levels of below-ground parking will complete the complex. Opus AE Group Inc., based in Minneapolis, will provide structural engineering services.
| Feb 11, 2011
Four-story library at Salem State will hold half a million—get this—books!
Salem State University in Massachusetts broke ground on a new library and learning center in December. The new four-story library will include instructional labs, group study rooms, and a testing center. The modern, 124,000-sf design by Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch includes space for 500,000 books and study space for up to a thousand students. Sustainable features include geothermal heating and cooling, rainwater harvesting, and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
| Feb 11, 2011
Green design, white snow at Egyptian desert retail complex
The Mall of Egypt will be a 135,000-sm retail and entertainment complex in Cairo’s modern 6th of October district. The two-story center is divided into three themed zones—The City, which is arranged as a series of streets lined with retail and public spaces; The Desert Valley, which contains upscale department stores, international retailers, and a central courtyard for music and other cultural events; and The Crystal, which will include leisure and entertainment venues, including a cinema and indoor snow park. RTKL is designing the massive complex to LEED Silver standards.
| Feb 10, 2011
7 Things to Know About Impact Glazing and Fire-rated Glass
Back-to-basics answers to seven common questions about impact glazing and fire-rated glass.
