JULY 29, 2010 ISSUE
Out With the Old, In With the “Green”
The new Watauga High School features large windows in classrooms and along hallways to let in plenty of sunlight. Natural lighting is said to be more conducive to learning and will save money in energy costs.
Classrooms without windows have solar tubes installed in the ceiling that amplify sunlight from the roof to provide natural lighting.Environmentally friendly building is becoming mainstream these days. Four years ago that was not the case. But even then, Watauga County school officials were thinking ahead.
“When it comes to renovating a facility, it’s much more costly and more of a challenge to try to bring it up to green and LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] qualities that we know are healthy environments to exist in and that support high achievement in our students,” said Watauga County Schools Supt. Marty Hemric about the debate between rebuilding and renovating.
Some “green” features of the school were easier to achieve, such as getting natural daylight through the positioning of the building. The W-shaped facility was positioned to receive as much daylight as possible through windows in most of the classrooms and common areas.
“It’s a collateral benefit,” Hemric said. “It reduces the amount of electricity you use. It’s good for our pockets and also good for our environment, and most important is that it’s good for our students and for learning.”
In addition to daylight from windows, solar tubes were installed in rooms without windows to provide real daylight to students and teachers. When the solar tubes are fully open, most or all of the lights in the room are off. The lights in classrooms also brighten and darken automatically based on the amount of natural light coming through the windows.
The solar tubes were expensive, but Donald Critcher, project coordinator for the new Watauga High School, said he believes they were a good investment.
“I can tell you now from what I’ve seen over the past few months, we’ll make that back in energy savings in no time,” he said.
Numerous studies have shown that daylight improves the learning environment.
“Daylighting can have some major effects on higher test scores, reduced absenteeism [and] more productivity,” said Jeanne Mercer-Ballard, coordinator and associate professor of the interior design program at ASU.
The installation of geothermal wells is another important feature that shows Watauga High School’s commitment to sustainability. These 450-feet deep wells beneath the ball fields capture heat from deep underground and pump it through the building to maintain a constant temperature.
“It’s very environmentally sensitive and friendly and a pretty smart technology,” Mercer-Ballard said.
“[Geothermal wells are] a very conserving mechanism for heating and cooling of the school,” Hemric said. “[We will have] lower energy consumption.”
Six 10,000-gallon cisterns hold “brown,” non-potable water collected from rainwater on the roof. This water will be used for tasks like watering the athletic fields. Hemric said this water conservation technique is important, especially around the Boone area.
Mercer-Ballard was involved with the green aspects within the new building. Furniture is one green aspect that people don’t often think of. Mercer-Ballard was part of a group that put together a green furniture package for the building.
“The idea here is that you’re not putting a bunch of off-gassing into the classrooms,” Mercer-Ballard said. “If we put a bunch of new furniture in the building and create a bunch of fumes, people will get headaches…[There are] repercussions to that.”
The furniture package extends past the classroom into teacher and administrator offices and the entire building. It is fairly uncommon at this point to use green furniture beyond the classrooms, Mercer-Ballard said. “It will be neat to see over the years if one of these…innovative things we’re doing becomes more mainstream in the future.”
Much of the green technology in the new building is working toward a common goal: LEED certification. School officials are confident that they will receive silver LEED certification, but are hoping for gold, Mercer-Ballard said. LEED certification not only requires architects to fulfill certain prerequisites before building and build in a “green” way, but also requires using the building in an environmentally friendly way.
“It’s not just about building the building, it’s about operating and maintaining it,” Mercer-Ballard said.
However, the certification process is lengthy and involved.
“It’s not uncommon for it to be several months or a year or so out to get certification,” Mercer-Ballard said.
Despite the long wait to find out about LEED certification, there is no doubt that the new WHS displays a strong commitment to the environment.
“Taxpayers should rest assured that they’ve built a great building and that they’re doing it right in terms of saving money and making the right decisions that not only impact the environment but also student learning,” Mercer-Ballard said.
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