USGBC-OC Continues with Success in Green School Project

The Orange County Chapter of the United States Green Building Council announced recently that the next phase of their Green Classroom project is underway at Davis Magnet School in Costa Mesa.

Phase I of the project is proving to be successful and energy use, as well as air quality and other factors are being monitored. By December 31, 2011, Sunbelt Controls had finished the installation of the monitoring equipment. The data readings from that equipment have been evaluated with interesting results. The students and faculty will be involved from an educational standpoint as the data is continuously collected and analyzed. They will be able to compare the data between the control (standard) classroom and retrofit (green) classroom to demonstrate the benefits of resource efficiency and healthy classrooms.

The goal of the USGBC Orange County is to unite the educational community, parents and school districts nationally with this prototype of a green classroom and to show significant positive impacts for learning environments and sound fiscal responsibility via monetary savings over time. Using the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) criteria as a guideline, the project will have an HVAC upgrade, added daylighting, and new finishes containing high recycled content and low VOCs.

Part of the Newport-Mesa School District, Davis Magnet is a progressive hands-on school that focuses on science, math and technology in grades pre-K through 6th. The school already employs a variety of energy conservation and sustainable programs including recycling, composting, vermiculture and a learning garden.

Davis Magnet is publicly funded and therefore, the chapter has embarked on this project with the help of donations from many generous corporations and sources, including Sunbelt, Disney, LPA, Patcraft Carpet, Gensler, McCarthy, TMAD Taylor & Gaines, Prudential, CES Burbank, Konsortum1, Lutron, IOS, Arborite, Armstrong Ceiling, CIR, IMA, and HMC Architects.

Sunbelt and Disney have donated funding for materials and labor for the entirety of the monitoring system for Phase I. Individuals, organizations or companies interested in being involved in the program still have opportunities to support Phase II (Construction) of the project.

For sponsorship information and updates regarding the school, visit the website (www.usgbc-oc.org) or contact USGBC-OC Executive Director, Lindsey Engels. The USGBC-OC Chapter’s mission is to engage all green stakeholders to be the conduit of change for a more sustainable Orange County.