Though attention is often paid to green commercial buildings, EnviroCitizen.org wanted to highlight a school that has actually gone green! The Chartwell School, located in Seaside, California, is the only educational institution in the entire country that has the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Platinum rating. The school offers a learning environment for children with learning differences such as dyslexia. Beyond teaching children, the Chartwell School also acts as a teaching tool to help children understand the concept of sustainability.
The Chartwell School has had a positive effect on the students, faculty and surrounding community, encouraging others to try to lessen the environmental impact of the buildings they reside or work in. Douglas Atkins, Chartwell’s executive director, believes that environmental stewardship and an excellent education go hand-in-hand.
The Chartwell School was built with five main ideas in mind.
- First, they wanted to create an exceptional learning environment. That idea was implemented by utilizing natural lighting, scenic views, excellent indoor air quality and ideal temperature control.
- They aimed to design a sustainable building that could be integrated into the education. This idea is obvious throughout the campus, where natural drainage and native and food-producing plants can easily be integrated into the curricula.
- They wanted to engage and involve the community as a means of obtaining support and funding.
- The Chartwell School aimed to obtain net-zero electricity use through energy-efficiency and solar photovoltaic cells to satisfy the building’s energy demands.
- Finally, they aimed to reach all of their goals without an exorbitant cost.
The Chartwell School is a beautiful building with giant, north-facing windows. A radiant heating system was installed to reduce noise and distractions, with the added benefit of using one of the most energy-efficient heating systems around. The building boasts a rain catchment system, so that their water needs are reduced by 70%. This water is then used to irrigate the garden and landscape that incorporates native plants. The most amazing and wonderful aspect about the Chartwell School is that the sustainable, eco-friendly aspects of the building do more than just lighten the carbon footprint of the building. Studies have shown that natural daylight (as opposed to artificial lighting) and ideal temperatures can improve math and reading scores by more than 20%! This new way of educating, labeled as a High Performance School, has expanded throughout the education paradigm in California and in other states. Other facilities are now being designed to be High Performance Schools.
EnviroCitizen.org wants to point out that the Chartwell School does more than just run efficiently to maintain a lower impact on the environment. This school involves the community and educates the next generation by incorporating ideas of sustainability and conservation throughout the curricula. A pretty phenomenal feat! |
