3 years ago
PRINCE GEORGE'S CO., Md. (WUSA) -- A new elementary school rising near Greenbelt Park is a six million dollar tribute to the conviction of area Quakers that human beings have an obligation to Mother Earth.
The 27,000 square foot elementary school is built using "green" technology and a plan to use the fewest polluting materials possible.
School Board Member Peter Curtis tells 9NEWS NOW, "Quakers have believed for many years in good stewardship of the world's resources, in fact long before the current ecology and green movement; a basic part of the Friends' philosophy for many years."
There are monetary reasons for the green building, as well.
"It makes sense. Buildings need to be efficient now. That's one way to get them to be able to run so we can put more of our money into education and less into paying utility bills. And it's important, obviously, in a world that is getting hotter, to be as efficient and to create as little pollution as we possibly can," Curtis said.
The building's exterior walls are made of thick bales of straw with a plastic-like facing made from natural materials.
"Why straw? Because it's highly insulative, it will have an r value of around 50 in the walls. It's also not a manufactured material. It's been grown locally so it did not have to be shipped and use a lot of fossil fuels to bring it here. The industry standard for walls in a commercial building is r-19, so we're going to be about three times higher, which also means that we don't have to heat the building quite as much because we will not lose as much heat through the wall," said head of School Tom Goss.
The floors will be heated with radiant heat, promising a floor temperature of between 75 and 80 degrees on most days, and the building's south wall is curved, allowing the sun to provide heat and light as it travels through the sky The roof of the building with have vegetation to limit water run-off and provide additional insulation.
"Every classroom has a door directly to the outside. We believe it is important for students to be out of doors. We also believe in the mantra that there is no such thing as inclement weather, only improper clothing. So it's very rare that we don't go outside. We don't measure the temperature and say 'oh geez its 25 degrees out, we can't go.' No, put your gloves on and let's go . It's good and healthy for kids to be out of doors," Goss told 9NEWS NOW.
Written by 9NEWS NOW
