March 30, 2007—The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded its highest rating of Platinum certification to a new middle school building at Sidwell Friends School. This award is the first Platinum certification the Council has conferred on a K-12 school anywhere in the world, it says, and the first Platinum-rated building in Washington, DC. Only 32 buildings around the globe have received Platinum ratings from the Council to date, and 30 schools have received LEED certification (750 are pending).
Guided by a tenant of its Quaker faith, to be stewards of the Earth, Sidwell Friends designed a middle school that would tread lightly on the environment. A 39,000-square-foot addition was added to the existing renovated building, more than doubling the usable space. Overall, the new school uses 60% less energy than a conventional building of its size and 93% less city water, says USGBC.
Virtually every material in the three-level, U-shaped structure was selected for environmental impact, says USGBC. The skin of the building is 50-year-old western red cedar reclaimed from wine barrels. The walkways inside the school lobby are made from greenheart pilings retrieved from the Baltimore Harbor.
The centerpiece of the new Middle School is a constructed wetland, the first of its kind in Washington, DC. The tiered structure takes wastewater coming out of the building, cleans it using biological processes and then channels it back into the building through a separate set of plumbing that feeds the water into the toilets and cooling systems.
The building is a central feature of an invigorated environmental science curriculum providing a hands-on laboratory for students to learn about ecology and environmental sciences. The building’s exposed, observable mechanical systems provide passive instruction on topics such as stormwater management, wastewater recycling, and solar electricity generation.
In addition, dozens of building monitors log data on variables such as temperature, water flow, water turbidity, and CO2 levels enabling students in the building, and soon, by virtue of the Internet, around the world, to study building functions and monitor the “health” of the facility. A green roof, complete with student gardens that will supply the School cafeteria with organic herbs and vegetables, provides additional teaching space.
Sidwell School partnered with Philadelphia-based architecture firm KieranTimberlake Associates, Philadelphia-based landscape architecture firm Andropogon Associates, GreenShape, Integrative Design Collaborative, and other specialized consultants on the project. For more information visit Sidwell’s Green Building site.
