A new middle school in Lumberton, N.C., serves as its own energy powerhouse, generating more electricity than it consumes and thereby achieving the rare status of being a "net positive" building.
The 75,930-sq-ft Sandy Grove Middle School, built via a public-private partnership, achieved the high-efficiency goal first by being designed to LEED-Platinum standards, and then by incorporating more than 2,300 solar panels that collectively generate 589.5 kilowatts of electricity annually.