Spring 2007
First LEED School in Maryland gets the Gold
Great Seneca Creek Elementary School in
Germantown, the MCPS Green Building Program's first school designed
to high performance and green
building guidelines to also pursue a LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) certification from the US Green Building
Council, got awarded a Gold Certification on April 18th, 2007.
For more information on Great
Seneca Creek ES, please visit the schools green website
here. For a green tour of the school, please contact Anja S.
Caldwell, Green Building Program Manager at 240.314.1095. Full Press
Release here.
www.Schools2Green.org
Maryland Governor O'Malley toured LEED School
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, State
Comptroller Peter Franchot, House Delegates Nancy King and William
Bronrott, Mont-gomery County Executive Ike Leggett, County Council
Member Mike Knapp and other Maryland State and County officials
were welcomed by Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast, Area Superintendent
Dr. LaVerne Kimball and the Board of Education at Great Seneca Creek
Elementary School on April 11 to view the features of the first
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified
school in Maryland.
Assistant Principal Donna Sagona and Green Building Program Manager
Anja S. Caldwell gave a detailed tour of the building before the
Governor visited with students in a kindergarten class that is
working on an environmental project. For pictures of the visit click
here.
Virtual Tour of Green School narrated by Great Seneca Creek ES
students on
www.Schools2Green.org website
The Great Seneca Creek ES SERT (Student Eco
Response) Team, affectionately known as “the green team,” has been
working hard to bring the first LEED school in Maryland to your
desk. Team members, all fourth graders at Great Seneca, gave up
numerous lunch and recess periods to create a “virtual tour” of
their new school, highlighting its sustainable, green features.
 The tour explains all
things green – from the geothermal exchange system hidden 515 feet
below the athletic field to the colorful bathroom partitions made
from over 100 varieties of recycled plastic. Visitors to the site
(the website, that is) will stroll the school, cyber-style, and hear
the students explain the sustainable aspects of the facility in
their own words and in their own voices. The PowerPoint tour has
built-in audio narrations recorded by the students.
Roll out the red carpet! The official premier will take place during
the dedication ceremony of Great Seneca Creek ES on Saturday, April
28 at 1:00pm. A big thank you to our volunteer intern Rachel Gutter
for creating this masterpiece and working with the students at the
school.
For a CD please contact the MCPS Green Building
Program.
LEED for Schools rating system released April 2007
LEED for Schools, the new rating system from the US Green Building
Council, just for schools, has been released. LEED for Schools is a
green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building
Council for K-12 schools and higher education buildings. The rating
system is designed to improve children’s health, productivity and
learning capacity while also helping school building to be more
energy efficient and resource friendly. LEED is like a “nutritional
label” for green, healthy schools so you know exactly where your
children are spending their days. School buildings can earn LEED
certification, which provides third party verification that the
building was designed and is operating the way it was intended to
be.
The LEED for Schools Rating System emphasizes:
- classroom acoustics
- master planning
- indoor air quality
- mold prevention
- energy efficiency
- water conservation
LEED is accompanied by a full suite of support
resources, including a comprehensive LEED Reference Guide and LEED
workshops focused on school construction. www.usgbc.org
MD Green Building Legislation
 MCPS testified before the House of Delegated in
Annapolis to support a bill that would have provided a price
preference for high performance school construction in Maryland. The
bill did not make it in this session, but a newly created Maryland
Green Building Council will work on drafts for similar bills for the
next year.
MCPS GREEN BUILDING is growing
After saying goodbye to Rachel Gutter, our beloved
volunteer intern who just returned to Montgomery County from New
Mexico we are saying hello to Ann Sofie Sahlin, a graduate student
from Howard University who will join us for the summer to help our
program grow and flourish. Internships with the Green Building
Program are available year round to high school and college
students. Applicants need to send us an E-mail with resume.
News from
MCPS LEED TASK FORCE
The LEED Task Force at MCPS conducted a Listen and Learn Session
at Great Seneca Creek ES to get feedback from the building's staff
and maintenance personnel on the green building technology and
training provided so far. The LEED Task Force evaluated the overall
very positive comments received and will make recommendations to the
design team of Clarksburg 8, a new elementary school and repeat
design of Great Seneca Creek ES and Little Bennett ES.
MCPS Green Building Program partners with Energy Star
 The Green Building Program was invited to present
the program and LEED school at the annual Conference of the National
School Board Association, NSBA, in San Francisco. The presentation
was attended by about 100 school board members and superintendents
from all over the United States. MCPS and the EPA are working
together on an Energy Star certification for MCPS green schools. For
a building to be awarded an Energy Star it has to be in operation
for at least one year. The EPA Energy Star Program provides free
tools and resources, as well as design guidelines and consulting
services to help school districts benchmark their energy use and
become more energy efficient. For more information
www.energystar.gov
Maryland Energy Administration - Maryland
Schools Workshop in Bethesda
Green Building Program
at Baltimore Green Week
Montgomery County Energy and Air Quality Advisory Committee
Annual NSBA Conference in San Francisco with Energy Star
Washington
Post - "At Great Seneca, Being "Green" is Elementary
Baltimore Sun
- School is first to go "green" in Maryland
School Business Affairs
-
Greening a School District One Building at a Time
School Planning and Management Magazine -
05/07 - Making Schools Green
Comments or Questions on this
Newsletter
Contact
Anja S Caldwell
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