As the eighth largest school district in the country, the School District of Philadelphia faces unique urban challenges, including constrained budgets, aging facilities and rising operating expenses. As part of a $1.5 billion capital program, the school district made the commitment that the new Commodore John Barry Elementary School, Philadelphia, Pa. would be an environmentally responsible model following district standards to replace the previously burned down school building on the same site.
Teachers at Hood River Middle School in Oregon had already established a curriculum that incorporated sustainable concepts, so when a bond was passed to build new music and science classrooms at their school they knew exactly what they wanted to do: use the new building as a ‘teaching tool’ that would illustrate sustainable ideas put into practice.
The John Dorr Nature Laboratory is located in the greenest corner of western Connecticut. Tucked into the foothills of the Berkshires, it serves as an environmental campus for elementary through high school students who attend the Bronx-based Horace Mann School.
Involved throughout the collaborative design process, the community’s interest in sustainability, as well as their agricultural roots, spurred architects to incorporate the community’s rural context into the design details of the new Severance Middle School.
For decades, Cathedral Kitchen has fed the hungry from the tiny kitchen of a former Catholic high school. After much fundraising, the nonprofit cut the ribbon on a 15,000 square foot facility. The new building not only benefits the community by making room for new programs but also through its environmentally friendly design.
In many buildings, sustainability is invisible. It’s an unnoticed breath of clean air; it’s the reduced use of water in the bathroom; or it’s the history of the material you’re standing on while your attention is focused on your activity. But at Pioneer Middle School in DuPont, Wash., the value of sustainable choices and building features is not only visible but also linked to everyday learning.
The Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Timberwolves NBA team, is now also home to the largest vegetated roof in the state. ...
Successful green roofs can be considered “low maintenance.” However, they should never be viewed as “no maintenance.” Not having a maintenance program in place will reduce the overall effectiveness of the initial investment made during installation. ...
When embarking on a sustainable plan that has the potential to transform a campus, why not start with a highly visible bang? Providence College in Providence, R.I., recently seized such an opportunity by installing thin-film building integrated photovoltaics on the roof of the Slavin Center, the college’s student center.
Blue roofs take a problem of excessive stormwater discharge and create an opportunity for sustainable water-efficiency practices. By constricting the flows running off a site and dealing with it at its source, developers gain an opportunity to build a low-impact site, gain LEED credits and reduce project costs in the process.
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