PHOTO © FRED J. FUHRMEISTER, TIME FRAME IMAGES
Energy modeling for the 111,000-square-foot ( 10,300-square-meter) building revealed that it should
save approximately 890,000 pounds (400 metric tons) of greenhouse gas per year compared to a new
building of the same size that simply meets current energy codes.
PHOTO © FRED J. FUHRMEIS TER, TIME FRAME IMAGES
The gymnasium, which anchors the three-story
north wing, has access to both the all-season
play ;eld and the new playground.
BRANDS & KRIBBS
The cafeteria features spectacular mountain views, especially from its open-air patio/roof deck.
BRANDS & KRIBBS
Each grade is known as a “core,” a term that also refers to the spacious and
;exible space where students in that grade learn or gather. Clustered around
the central core are the basic classrooms, shared specialty classrooms and
small group rooms, all with generous access to daylight and views.
a local entity, the Community Office for
Resource Efficiency (CORE), early in the
design process to determine whether the project was eligible for a grant to fund additional
sustainable features. ;e result was a grant
of $250,000, the largest in CORE’s history,
awarded for the design and implementation of
exterior solar shades, the interior light louvers,
lighting control systems and the transpired
solar collector for ventilation preheating.
;e new middle school is the ;rst school
in Colorado to receive LEED-NC (LEED for
New Construction) Gold certi;cation. We
achieved this through a combination of sustainable strategies, including daylighting for
every educational space, high-performance
glazing, transpired solar wall, sunshades and
light louvers, sophisticated lighting controls,
high insulation levels and operable windows.
;e interior of the building features waterless
urinals and dual-;ush toilets, ;oors and ceil-
ings with high recycled content, occupancy-
and photocell-controlled lighting, reused
wood casework, low-VOC adhesives and
paints, rapidly renewable materials and Forest
Stewardship Council-certi;ed wood.
Energy modeling for the 111,000-square-
foot ( 10,300-square-meter) building revealed
that it should save approximately 890,000
pounds of greenhouse gas per year compared
to a new building of the same size that simply meets current energy codes. Our design
team then challenged itself to increase that
emissions-o;set number to 1 million. Since the
building was already highly e;cient, we needed to pursue renewable energy. We selected an
