Omaha North High School addition earns LEED Silver certification

Published: 28-Jan-2011, Omaha North High School’s four-storey addition in Nebraska, US has been recognised with LEED-Silver certification, becoming the first facility in the state of Nebraska to earn LEED certification under the LEED for Schools rating system.

This project is also the Omaha Public School's first LEED-certified project. The 1922-built school was in dire need of expansion as a result of expanding enrollment. Omaha North High School’s new building spanning 32,092 square feet has been designed by RDG Planning & Design to house science classrooms and labs, besides accommodating the school’s media technology and engineering programmes.

A string of sustainable features have been integrated into the facility, which helped it in acquiring the LEED-Silver certification. The building features a green room for video production with support rooms for sound recording and digital editing, and new practice facilities for the wrestling programme. Sustainable strategies paid full attention to energy efficiency, acoustics, day lighting, building as a learning tool, and the responsible use of materials.

The construction and design project has made use of 81% of wood harvested from FSC-certified sources. The building features a two-level greenhouse for biology which opens onto a green roof. This green roof, which can be used as a secondary teaching space, is totally covered by SRI-compliant material. The school building follows water-efficient landscaping. Harvested rainwater meets 100% of the irrigation needs.

The facility is fitted with low-flow sinks and dual-flush toilets reducing potable water use by 43%. Indoor air quality is enhanced by the use of low-emitting paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, flooring materials and composite woods.

Almost 19% of the building materials were manufactured within 500 miles of the jobsite, and 32% of the building materials constituted recycled content. Vrana diverted about 87% of the construction waste from the landfill, recycling scrap metal, concrete asphalt, wood drywall, cardboard packaging and landscaping waste.

Vrana Construction served as the construction manager for the project and Vertegy served as the LEED consultant. View the story from WIDN here.