The students and teachers of Sudlersville Middle School spent their first day in the new LEED certified building today.
Two years after groundbreaking, the newly completed school contains an exemplary array of energy efficient technologies becoming increasingly popular with buildings in the public sector intent on reducing carbon footprint and energy use.
Located on a plot just southeast of the Sudlersville town center, the new school is replacing a much older structure on N. Church street.
Designed by Pennsylvania-based architecture firm Crabtree & Rohrbaugh Associates, the $23 million building features photovoltaic panels and geothermal heating and cooling systems.
The building also employs efficiency plumbing that will reduce water usage by 40%, and with extensive use of glass panelling, harnesses ambient, natural lighting in 80% of its spaces. This technique is known in the green building business as “daylight harvesting”.
According to construction program manager for Queen Anne’s County Schools Andrew Onukwubiri, the school board expects to save roughly 35% on energy costs for the middle school in the following year.
As a LEED certified building with a silver rating (which is the second lowest), the new school, says Onukwubiri, ideally will be able to achieve ‘gold‘ and ‘platinum’ status throughout its lifetime as more green technology becomes accessible.
More importantly, however, Sudlersville Middle School is the first LEED certified building in the Queen Anne’s County school system.
“The [overhead] lights are calibrated to adjust to the amount of light coming in through the windows,” said Principal Leigh Veditz enthusiastically from the gymnasium.
“We also have acoustically smart classrooms, with microphones and simple speakers designed to amplify teachers voices to just the right volume for the students. It also saves teachers from having to shout.”
All classrooms are equipped with an interactive board, taking the place of chalk and slate, which will enable teachers and students to access the latest educational software and content.
And if the above-mentioned bells and whistles didn’t make this new middle school sound sci-fi enough, the classrooms contain CO2 sensors to dictate how much fresh air is needed from the ventilation system for any given area.
“So if a room is empty,” said Onukwubiri, “the vents will automatically shut off, but as soon as the room fills with people again, the vents will come back on, bringing fresh oxygen.”
Gipe and Associates of Easton handled the mechanical, electrical and plumbing related aspects of the project, while Nason Construction were the builders.
As for the old middle school, located on N. Church Street near the town’s center, the future of its role in the county is uncertain, says Principal Veditz.
“We spent a long time there,” she said, “so it still holds a place in our memories. The board has yet to decide how it will be used, but we would like to be able to include it somehow.”
Cynthia Schreppler says
I just visited the building, and as modern as it looks, it’s very warm, with a lot of solid maple panels & built-in shelving, as well as brick. It’s a beautiful facility!