LEED Silver in Kansas
OLATHE, Kan. — The new $10.5 million Woodland Elementary School was awarded LEED Silver certification, making it the first educational facility in the state to achieve that environmental designation.
The 500-student, 73,000-square-foot school was designed by Hollis and Miller Architects of Overland. Universal Construction Co. Inc. of Overland Park built the project.
LEED certification was achieved through the use of recycled materials during construction, and more than 37 percent of construction materials were harvested or manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.
In addition, 75 percent of construction waste was diverted away from landfills through recycling strategies.
Low-flow fixtures, low-maintenance vegetation and a lighting system utilizing classroom occupancy sensors and controls that allow for different levels of lighting were included in the project.
Hollis and Miller Architects estimates that water usage will be reduced 29.5 percent with low-flow technology and minimal irrigation plants. Additionally, school officials will use environmentally friendly cleaning supplies and purchase some of their operational energy from green sources through the utility companies.
Hollis and Miller Architects is in the process of creating an educational area in the school where the LEED certification plaque will be mounted and a graphical mural will explain the building’s green features.
“We think it’s important to display to students and the public the green and LEED features of the school, highlighting the environmental friendliness of the building in the process,” says John Southard, Hollis and Miller Architects’ partner-in-charge on the project. “If we can incorporate some teaching elements into the program and they’re using the facility as an example, then that’s just par for the course.”
Woodland Elementary School was built using an existing prototype based on an elementary school that opened in 2007.