By reaching LEED PLATINUM status the new Environmental Center joined a very select group worldwide, and became the first Public Elementary School Building in California to be LEED Platinum certified. The US Green Building Council awards project points based on the use of sustainable design features. The more “Green” a project is, the more points it receives. Platinum is the highest level possible. “I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved. There were many times over the years that I wondered if we would really be able to reach Platinum” says the Architect, Alexis Persinger.

The new Environmental Center is part of the Harmony Union School District and will serve grades K-8. The building was conceived to serve several critical needs: an enclosed cafeteria, mid-sized meeting space, performance and theatrical venue, command post, library, and gathering space for the ecological community. Early in the process the decision was made that the design would achieve LEED Platinum status and be net zero energy and water use. A 30 kilowatt solar installation not only provides all the energy the building needs, it also significantly reduces the energy use for the other buildings on site.

For 18 months, the design team met weekly and conducted 3 design charrettes in the process with a core design committee.  The integrated design team was made up of members from the community, several local environmental organizations, school staff, parents as well as ten 5th and 6th grade students from the school. Persinger Architects lead the team throughout the 6-year process and put together the funding. The architect was seeking a unique, attractive LEED building, open to the public that would demonstrate green design principles hoping it would inspire those who had the opportunity to experience its cutting edge beauty and incorporate the concepts into their own lives.

The main cafeteria is crescent shaped to utilize its southern orientation for passive solar heating and natural daylight. Thermal mass is found in concrete with recycled fly ash throughout and the floors incorporate six individual zones of radiant heating. Deep overhangs reflect summer heat away from the building while allowing winter sunlight to penetrate deep into the interior spaces. A wall of glass visually connects the magnificent surroundings of the school’s one-acre garden, wetlands, and towering redwoods, to the inside.

The project’s location on this 50-acre school campus made it ideally suited as a teaching tool.  The building uses a passive solar strategy to keep energy use to a minimum. (Exceeding Title 24 by more than 50%) Extra levels of insulation reduce energy use and natural day lighting keeps the energy load from lighting to a minimum. Recycled steel and FSC certified wood is used for the framing and structural elements. Nearly every finish material, water fixture, lighting control systems, solar tubes, and roofing materials are cutting edge. Each product was researched for years and much was donated by the various vendors to demonstrate their products to the public. Tours and a take away brochure will be available for the public.

The goal for the building is net zero energy and water use. Storm water is directed into a bio-swale and then into wetlands on site, allowing the rainwater to soak into the earth preventing unwanted runoff. The water for the building is provided by a well on site. Essentially the water use and recycling is a closed cycle with no water added and no water leaving the site.

In the end, the project combines the best ideas in sustainable design with an organic form that echoes the green principals that it was founded upon. The former Harmony Union School District Superintendent, Jane McDonough, was so happy with the project she said “Alexis Persinger understands the complex needs of a small local District. He is proficient in the technical details of a project, and adept at bringing together all the disparate members of our school community. Mr. Persinger demonstrates an unusual combination of styles; organized business proficiency with a warm human touch.”

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