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Denver’s First LEED Gold School and Zero Energy Community Campus

By: Andrew Michler

As a part of the USGBC’s Rocky Mountain Green Conference we packed our lunch box and went on a tour of Denver’s first LEED Gold School. What makes this campus unique is how DLR Group Architects designed it to be a community hub. The newly-minted Evie Garrett Dennis Campus radiates out from the core building with a student union and multipurpose space, and the project utilizes energy-efficient building strategies and a huge solar array that make it practically net-zero energy.

The campus is located on the fringe of eastern Denver suburbia, a vast tract of new construction projects and cul-de-sacs. While it’s not located in the most sustainable of developments ,the design does reflect the need for a community center in such a fast growing area. The campus is actually a series of separate schools anchored by a main building that hosts cafeterias, meeting rooms, a gym and 300 kW of solar panels on its white roof. Dubbed the Student Union Building it, is actually run like a business for events, providing much-needed space for the growing community.

Three nearly identical buildings with marquee overhangs provide a multitude of educational opportunities — including a charter school for k – 2nd grade, a public science and technology high school, and a middle school. The unusual set-up allows for the campus to adapt to changing education needs in the community. The school itself is an educational tool for green building, and it has a lot to teach the students and faculty about how buildings work.

SOURCE | Inhabitat

2011 TCA Tilt-Up Achievement Award | Saunders Construction Company

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TILT-UP TODAY, a publication of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association, is THE source for Tilt-Up industry news, market intelligence, business strategies, technical solutions, product information, and other resources for professionals in the Tilt-Up industry. A subscription to TILT-UP TODAY is included in a TCA membership. Subscriptions for potential TCA members are also available. If you would like to receive a complimentary subscription to the publication, please contact the TCA.