Architect Robbie Ferris is on a mission to alter radically the delivery model and performance of K-12 schools. Roughly a decade ago, Ferris and his Raleigh-based firm, Sfl+a Architects, began taking steps to design K-12 schools as “high-performance buildings,” defined as having reduced ownership costs and improved occupant performance.
With a school’s electrical bill constituting about 30% of its total cost of ownership, the firm focused on designing the facilities as energy-positive. Today, Sfl+a’s school designs regularly achieve this status and often by a wide margin.