Primary and Secondary Education Facilities

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Photo by Curt Clayton

123 Seldon, Detroit, MI 48201
Completed in February 2005, the Detroit School of Arts is a 1200 student, 286,219 square foot high school that is part of the Detroit Public Schools. The six story structure represents a combination of the Communications and Media High School with the Detroit School for Performing Arts. The green building houses an 800 seat auditorium, 200 seat recital hall, black box theater, television and radio production studios, art galleries and studios, and music rehearsal rooms. The school has worked on integrating the arts into the curriculum by requiring a minimum graduation requirement of 120 credit hours in the arts. The arts include visual arts, dance, speech, drama, and vocal and instrumental music. Sustainable building features include highly reflective roofing material, trees for shade, and a properly oriented building (extending east to west) to help reduce energy costs. Natural daylighting, a 3,954 square foot green roof, and energy-efficient windows also helped achieve a basic LEED rating (LEED NC, v2.1), making it the first LEED certified City building in Detroit. The architectural firms on this $121 million project were Hamilton Anderson Associates and Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., and the constructors were Skanska USA Building Inc. and LS Brinker.

2200 Pettis Avenue NE, Ada, MI 49301-9266
Completed in August 2004, Forest Hills Eastern Middle and High School houses 1300 students in Ada Township, Michigan. The 157,500 sq. ft. structure was designed by URS Corporation and earned basic LEED certification (LEED NC, v2.1). Select green features include a white EDPM roof, plenty of natural light with shading devices, low-e windows, an irrigation retention pond, concrete paving, and constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. The structure also boasts energy efficient lighting and controls, steel frame construction, movable interior partitions, and porcelain ceramic tile.

Jessica Eimer

8400 Two Mile Road NE, Ada, MI 49301
The Goodwillie Environmental School, part of the Forest Hills School System, enrolls 96 fifth and sixth graders. The Grand Rapids school works to develop a love for nature in the value system of the students by using the surrounding environment as a "living classroom". Green features of the school include window overhangs (to maximize winter and minimize summer sun exposure), a passive cooling tower, and a water-source geothermal heat pump system. The structure also boasts high efficiency windows, cellulose wall insulation, low-VOC paint, rubber flooring made of 100% post-consumer recycled car tires and 75% recycled post-industrial HDPE plastic bathroom partitions. The site also features native landscaping and a composite wood deck made from recycled milk jugs and sawdust. These green features earned the building a basic LEED rating (LEED NC, v2.0). Goodwillie Environmental School was designed by Progressive AE and built by Triangle Associates.

Jessica Eimer

Part of the Forest Hills Public School system, Knapp Forest Elementary was completed in August, 2003. Green features include lots of natural daylighting, sound absorbing material, a white roof, parking lot islands with trees, and a closed duct system. The site contains native vegetation and an electric recharge station, and ALL construction materials were obtained within a 500-mile radius. The 88,298 square foot structure, designed by Kingscott Associates, also contains daycare space. The building obtained a basic LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (LEED NC, v2.1).

2294 South 9th Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49009
Prairie Ridge Elementary ¬School is the first K-12 school in Michigan to receive LEED Gold certification (LEED NC 2.2). The architectural company- TowerPinkster- worked closely with Kalamazoo Public Schools to achieve this goal.
Green Features:
A green roof patio was built to allow for student instruction.
The use of energy efficient lighting and a high-performance exterior envelope contributes to lower HVAC costs.
Daylight and outdoor views are provided in each regularly occupied educational space.
The parking lot is broken up into small islands allowing for the natural management of storm water by rain gardens.

Funded by the Steelcase Foundation of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Header photo courtesy of Bigfoto
Site by CMC/GrandNet