John R. Karman III Staff Writer
Two Kentucky firms have designed what is being touted as the first “net zero” school in the state, meaning the building will generate as much energy as it consumes.
The Louisville office of Lexington-based architectural firm Sherman-Carter-Barnhart PSC and Louisville-based engineering firm CMTA Inc. collaborated on the new Richardsville Elementary School, a $14.4 million building.
The school will open this fall in Bowling Green, Ky., and will serve 550 students, according to a news release.
The approximately 80,000-square-foot school building has a number of cost-saving “green” features.
They include geothermal heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, solar panels and controls that monitor occupancy, motion and carbon dioxide levels.
The building envelope also is compact in size, which will minimize energy costs, the release said.
In addition, it has insulated concrete form walls and an energy efficient roof.
Richardsville Elementary has been registered for a U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification, a nationally recognized designation of a building’s use of accepted green strategies, the release said.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
