Northside Elementary School in Chapel Hill holds the distinct honor of being the first elementary school in North Carolina to receive LEED Platinum certification with the Green Building Certification Institute.
“This is LEED Platinum,” said Project Manager Ashley Dennis of Moseley Architects, during the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education meeting Thursday night. “What I want you to remember is that this is the first elementary school in the state; the second school in the state; the 20th in the nation; and only five percent of schools that achieve LEED achieve platinum. This is a big deal.”
Dennis and two of her colleagues presented a big round glass LEED Certification trophy to the Board of Education for their mutual achievement in building Northside Elementary School, which opened in 2013.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design. The green certification program rates building projects on a point system for utilizing the best green-building practices.
Platinum is the highest level of certification, for building projects that earn 80 points or more.
Construction Administrator Steve Nally of Moseley Architects thanked the Board for its support and partnership in designing the sustainable 100,000-square-foot school, which reaches three stories.
Nally told the board that the old site of the Orange County Training School had all the “intangibles” he was looking for during a site search for Northside.
He said he wanted to help the neighborhood remain a place for families, and not just renters. He wanted to partner with alumni from the original Orange County Training School, and show that Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools was ready to re-commit to the site.
He said he’s glad that Moseley could partner with the Town of Chapel Hill to extend the Greenway Trail.
“When you think about sustainability, partnering with the community, walkability, all of those things are a part of it,” said Nally. “all those intangibles of Northside – that’s what made it great.”
Moseley Architects Energy Analytics Specialist John Nichols reviewed some of the “tangibles” of the project.
“What you may not have have noticed at the school is that very interesting underground rainwater system that saves about a million gallons of water every year,” said Nichols. “And so, that amount of water is actually the same amount that 10 U.S. households use in a year.”
Therefore, said Nichols, the system effectively offsets the water use of 10 households.
Nichols said that the deconstruction strategies used for existing buildings on the site during the construction process diverted 400,000 pounds of waste from the regional landfill.
He mentioned the school’s interior, which is lit by natural daylight, and added that the indoor air quality is “excellent.”
Before the Moseley folks posed for pictures with members of the Board of Education – and of course, the certification trophy – Ashley Dennis reiterated her company’s excitement about the achievement.
“You guys don’t do this every day,” said Dennis, “but we do, and we know what a big deal this is, and so, we’re very proud of you.”
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines