The city is gearing up to build a 444-seat Staten Island elementary school that runs solely on the energy it produces, in a project the developer calls a “laboratory for ideas for future construction.”
The city’s School Construction Authority is designing and erecting the “net-zero” P.S. 62 at 644 Bloomingdale Road, located between Crabtree Avenue and Woodrow Road, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill is designing the green building.
The company plans to install a small wind turbine and solar panels on the roof, southern exposure and a parking lot canopy, according to the article. Exercise equipment, to be used by the students, will also produce power.
To make the most of the energy, the school’s kitchen and heating and ventilation system will be high-efficiency. Additionally students will be reminded of their energy consumption on classroom monitors called “dashboards” that will display usage real-time.
The school is slated for completion by the start of the 2015 school year, the article said. [WSJ] — Angela Hunt