Carlstadt, New Jersey Public School to Seek LEED Silver
Carlstadt, New Jersey (where I used to play roller hockey and frequent Steve’s Sizzling Steaks along Route 17 before heading to the Meadowlands to watch the Nets as a kid) is not necessarily the type of town that I’d imagine to be a steward of sustainability. However, the borough is about to open the doors on a LEED Silver public school, according to an article in yesterday’s Bergen Record, and as a former Bergen County resident, I was quite pleased to read about the project.
At a cost of $28.6 million, the Carlstadt Public School should open sometime next month. Green features include structural steel and cast-iron pipes that are almost entirely recycled, carpeting which contains fifty-six percent recycled materials, and bathroom partitions that are thirty-percent recycled. Moreover, only five percent of the project’s construction debris was not recycled. DMR Architects (of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, image above via its website), which designed the school, incorporated aerating faucets, which mix air with water in the plumbing system in order to maintain water pressure and simultaneously save approximately 140,000 gallons of water each year. Motion sensors switch empty classroom lights off, drought-tolerant plants (eastern redbud and Japanese holly) obviate the need for a site irrigation system, and the school will offer preferred parking spots to carpoolers. Another interesting feature is that the school will hang twenty LEED “fact plaques” throughout the halls in order to help educate students about sustainability and green design.
Former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey signed Executive Order #24 on July 29, 2002, which required that “[a]ll new school designs shall incorporate the guidelines developed by the United States Green Building Council known as “Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (“LEED”), Version 2.0 to achieve maximum energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in the design of schools.” While this Order does not mandate LEED certification (and in fact The Record notes that “[t]he state traditionally has discouraged districts from pursuing certification because [USGBC’s] application process can be expensive and cumbersome”) approximately fifteen New Jersey schools have registered LEED projects with USGBC. The Record also points out that this past fall, the Neptune school district in Monmouth County opened an elementary school that is seeking LEED Gold certification. (The Willow School, in Gladstone, has already received LEED Gold).
- “Green” School Sprouts in Carlstadt (Bergen Record)
Category: Design, Green Building, LEED
