North Penn High School.
As North Penn School District gears up for its community forum on future high school renovations and a potential ninth-grade center this Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Pennbrook Middle School, the high school Environmental Action (EnAct) Club presented sustainable and green-friendly reasons why the district should achieve LEED status with the updated high school.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The high school is over 50 years old, and the future is fast approaching. Sustainability is the future, and the solution to the problems that threaten our future,” said EnAct cabinet member Natalia Dello Buono, in an article by The Reporter. Dello Buono and her classmates showed a presentation on LEED to the facilities and operations committee March 27.
To satisfy the ongoing equipment and system failures at the high school, as well as the influx in student population, the district has decided to focus on two options: one adds a new ninth-grade “pod” at the school and renovates the three middle schools at around $400 million, and the second option calls for strictly high school renovations with no ninth-grade center at around $236 million.
The forum on Thursday night will feature a full presentation to the community on the options to re-imagine the high school, including its current status, proposals, financial impact, and potential timelines. The community can provide feedback and ask questions ahead of the meeting.
Either option would likely call for a voter referendum either at a General Election or a special election for North Penn taxpayers.
Read more about the renovations on the district’s Re-Imagine North Penn High School site.
As far as achieving status in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program under the U.S. Green Building Council, the district has to meet certain qualifications.
According to the article, EnAct member Nicole Mattiacci told the committee that the LEED criteria could be used to design the renovation project.
According to the report, the program breaks down required attainments into various categories. There are 31 LEED points available in an energy and atmosphere category, for example, and another 16 under an indoor environmental quality category, and so on. Categories exist for materials and resources, water efficiency, innovation, and more.
Achieve 40 or more “points,” and a building becomes LEED certified, per the report. Anything beyond that, and the building can earn silver, gold, and platinum status.
In the article, Dello Buono detailed the LEED criteria for the energy and atmosphere category, which can lead to an Energy Star rating by the U.S. Department of Energy.
To achieve high ranking in that category, the building would need to use renewable energy sources, low-impact appliances, and the like, which could include seeking and sustaining an Energy Star rating as issued by the federal Department of Energy, using low-impact appliances, using renewable energy sources, and/or making the building more energy efficient during design.
“LEED points in this category are split into how you make your building efficient, as well as how you monitor it. From prior discussions, I’ve learned that we already do monitor our energy consumption, like our Energy Star rating, but it has been dropping,” she said in the article.
Renewable sources include micro-wind turbines, solar water heaters, heat pumps, solar panels, and green roofs.
EnAct club junior Emily Ramos said electric vehicle chargers, bike racks and lanes to cut down on driving, and a parking garage are all viewed as efficient under the transportation category, per the report.
“You’re building up instead of out, which reduces the land that is used,” Ramos said in the article regarding parking garages. “And we could use permeable pavement, so that there’s less sheets of runoff, and then the water soaks into the ground.”
Read more on the LEED report to the school district by the North Penn High School EnAct Club here.
See also:
North Penn Provides Update on COVID-19 Federal Stimulus Spending
North Penn School District Holding Community Forum on High School Renovations
North Penn School District Holding Open House for Healthcare Center
North Penn School District Business Office Earns Meritorious Budget Award
