This new 59,000 square foot elementary school consolidates two older schools on one of the existing sites. Twenty-two dedicated classrooms are configured into “learning pods,” which provide students with smaller learning environments within the larger school. In response to anticipated future growth, parallel classroom hallways are designed to easily expand, increasing the potential number of classrooms by 40%.

The new school, which is LEED Gold certified, was designed to be highly energy-efficient. Energy modeling, life cycle cost analyses, and daylight modeling were integrated into the architectural design process, in order to evaluate different design/system options and select those that were most energy-efficient and cost-effective. A ground source heat pump system was shown to be the favorable over other HVAC systems. Other energy-saving design features include:

• Natural daylighting in 100% of the classrooms
• A white TPO roofing system that reflects radiation and reduces the “heat island” effect so common in Southwest
• A 50 KW 4,000 square foot solar array, which is projected to reduce the energy use by an additional 25%
• A small 1.8 KW wind turbine

Total energy consumption is approximately 35% of that compared to other traditionally built schools of same scope and size.