Many of you have asked what is LEEDS?
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
We are trying to be as "Green" as we can afford to be.
Some would argue that soon we may not be able to afford to not go green!
If you are wondering..... What is a Green School?:
green school /grEn skül / n. a school building or facility that creates a healthy environment that is conducive to learning while saving energy, resources and money
These links will help you understand what we are trying to do in the New Watauga High School to insure quality in work, study, and living conditions in 2010 and beyond.
http://www.buildgreenschools.org/The specifications and rating scale can be found out this link:
http://www.buildgreenschools.org/documents/leed-s_ratingsystem.pdf
And it is not just a "comfort thing" we are trying to insure a better degree of sustainability and affordable maintenance for the many decades to come that we will use this building.
http://mountaintimes.com/mtweekly/2008/0313/leed.php3
for an review of the entire LEEDS mission follow this link:
http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx
From the beginning we have tried to think of this new school as being more than just a building in which children are taught. We have held to the belief that this building as a structure will also be a teaching tool. Hopefully our new school will teach our students, our community, and generations beyond about the importance of planning ahead for healthy, sustainable, and inspiring public and private structures.
I truly believe our students will begin to think about many of these notions when they are building their own homes.
(Yes, it is hard to imagine your 10 year old someday building and owning their own home! ;-)
For a look at some of the "green" notions for private homes follow this link:
http://www.greenhomeguide.org/
