Rising fuel costs and limited public school funding have heightened the interest of more than a few Texas school districts in greener, more energy-efficient schools. “They all want to save on energy costs,” says Susan Smith, vice president of Dallas-based design firm Corgan Associates. “It comes out of their operations and maintenance [budgets], so they are poised to save funds.” She adds that more school boards and constituents “want to see recycling and buildings that sustain themselves.”
Corgan Associates designed the $29-million, 152,000-sq-ft Lady Bird Johnson Middle School for the Irving Independent School District near Dallas as a net-zero facility, meaning that over the course of a year it will produce as much electricity as it uses. Set to open in August, the school is aiming for LEED-Gold certification.