Pine Jog Elementay School and the Florida Atlantic University Pine Jog Environmental Education Center

Narratives

Narrative

The school district, university and architect are pioneering a new direction for high performance, green schools in Florida. Their mission is to inspire and excite County children and residents in the science and art of restoring the natural landscape and promoting our role as responsible citizens in safeguarding the planet’s natural resources. Collectively the partners are integrating the curriculum by combining both traditional and built environmental education to provide a comprehensive program of ecological awareness and stewardship. The entire 150-acre parcel will serve as an outdoor classroom and 3-D textbook, and the two adjacent facilities will share numerous site and building system synergies and design features. The university will offer built environmental education courses through its College of Education using both facilities as student teaching sites. The intention is to enrich both the College of Education and the 960-student station elementary school’s K-5 curricula while training teachers who can intern in the facilities and relocate to other schools and districts, carrying the message of high performance schools, green building and environmental stewardship to other children around the country and to life at home.

The partnership will provide ongoing environmental stewardship of the nature preserve. The site education curriculum will utilize the entire preserve with designed learning places in and around the structures that bring the outdoors inside and vice versa. These opportunities include butterfly gardens, storm water collection and water re-use demonstration areas, understanding solar paths and energy at the interactive sun dial area and “Solar Plaza”, mitigation/restoration areas for older students to create themselves, and biological life cycle study areas of slash pines, gopher tortoises, native grasses, insects, lizards, and other native amphibians. The regenerative site design also includes habitat and tree preservation, native pineland landscape, and soil composting areas. Signage explains the building’s LEED® features, which include: preferred alternative-fuel and carpool vehicles; water-efficient plumbing and waterless urinals; student recycling stations and the use of recycled and locally available construction materials; highly-efficient and visible mechanical equipment; and polished concrete floors at high-use areas, among others.

The buildings themselves are designed to teach. The site’s flora and fauna are reflected in the interior via the colors, graphics, patterns and images that make up the interior design motif. Building systems are exposed to further accentuate the connection between natural resource use, energy and material conservation and the application of renewable energy systems. Students, staff and the greater community will be able to interact with building performance information via the internet through “green-screen” energy monitoring. Visitors to the Environmental Education Center will be able to tour the school grounds, participate in site stewardship activities and learn from the interactive displays associated with each of the buildings’ renewable energy systems.

The projects are included as case studies in the current USGBC LEED for Schools workshop and are featured as examples of Innovation Credits, highlighting the unique synergistic relationship between the university and school district, as well as several of the features of each building and how they support education as pedagogy.

Narrative

The School District of Palm Beach County and Florida Atlantic University’s partnership is developing an environmental education nexus for the community. The K-5 Elementary School and FAU’s Environmental Education Center, both built to LEED® high performance and environmentally-responsible design standards, share 15 acres in the 150 acre Pine Jog Preserve. The site is a remnant native pineland habitat that once abounded and is now surrounded by suburbia. The forested site and the development of the first new “green” campus in Florida are woven directly into the academic mission of the school and environmental center — addressing the question of how to live more sustainable, in harmony with our immediate environment and our planet as a whole.

The inspiration for the academic mission came from the 150 acre preserve, with its trail system through bio-diverse habitats, rich in experiences and discoveries. The development team conceived of “the 150 acre classroom” concept, where the building functions as a trail through a series of discoveries that children make with their teachers. A series of “learning habitats” are arranged in grade sequence within the classroom wings. Kindergarten in the south wing ground floor faces their dedicated play area — the progression moves to fifth grade in the north wing second floor, facing into the pines. All learning habitats have windows into the central courtyard’s preserved stand of pineland vegetation, ringed by interpretive stations including a sundial, butterfly garden, gopher tortoise burrow, composting bins, rainwater cisterns, native plant markers, a small wetland pond, etc. This court between the wings is overlooked from the “Eco-Porch” which serves as adjunct teaching amphitheater. Other informal teaching spaces are strategically located in hallway breaks near stairways or in other outdoor porches where natural light and dramatic views can offer spontaneous lessons about wildlife, the weather, and other wonders.

Many building features become life-size teaching tools. The Solar Plaza has solar photovoltaic and solar hot water panels visible to students and visitors, complete with interpretive displays that show how much energy these technologies produce and save, and why that is important. Exposed mechanical rooms and ductwork inspire many “What’s that?” questions, giving teachers opportunities to explain scientific concepts in age-appropriate ways. Classroom computers link to campus energy monitoring, a rooftop weather station, and wireless video links to nearby bird’s nests or tortoise burrows. Durable polished concrete floors are acid-etched with fossil-like ferns. Other LEED features include dual-flush toilets, classroom lighting with occupancy sensors, and materials with recycled content. These and other LEED features are explained with signage distributed throughout the campus.

The EEC and School share synergies. The media center, with large north-facing windows to the pineland, and inspirational environmental quotes on the wall, will be a contemplative retreat. The dining / multipurpose room offers numerous windows and a stage carved out of site habitat photomurals. At the EEC, an exhibit hall and a wet lab are amenities that are available for after-school programs. The campus will train teaching professionals how they and their schools can be regenerative forces in community life.

Exemplary Ideas

The School District and University’s partnership is developing an environmental education nexus for the community. The K-5 Elementary School and the University’s Environmental Education Center, both built to LEED high performance and environmentally-responsible design standards, share 15 acres in the 150 acre Pine Jog Preserve. The site is a remnant native pineland habitat that once abounded and is now surrounded by suburbia. The forested site and the development of the first new “green” campus in Florida are woven directly into the academic mission of the school and environmental center — addressing the question of how to live sustainably, in harmony with our immediate environment and our planet as a whole.

The inspiration for the academic mission came from the 150 acre preserve, with its trail system through bio-diverse habitats, rich in experiences and discoveries. The development team conceived of “the 150 acre classroom” concept, where the building functions as a trail through a series of discoveries that children make with their teachers. A series of “learning habitats” are arranged in grade sequence within the classroom wings. Kindergarten in the south wing ground floor faces their dedicated play area — the progression moves to fifth grade in the north wing second floor, facing into the pines. All learning habitats have windows into the central courtyard’s preserved stand of pineland vegetation, ringed by interpretive stations including a sundial, butterfly garden, gopher tortoise burrow, composting bins, rainwater cisterns, native plant markers, a small wetland pond, etc. This court between the wings is overlooked from the “Eco-Porch” which serves as an adjunct teaching amphitheater. Other informal teaching spaces are strategically located in hallway breaks near stairways or in outdoor porches where natural light and dramatic views can offer spontaneous lessons about wildlife, the weather and other wonders.

Many building features become life-size teaching tools. The Solar Plaza at the school’s entry has solar photovoltaic and solar hot water panels visible to students and visitors, complete with interpretive displays that show how much energy these technologies produce and save, and why that is important. Exposed mechanical rooms and ductwork inspire many “What’s that?” questions, giving teachers opportunities to explain scientific concepts in age-appropriate ways. Classroom computers link to campus energy monitoring, a rooftop weather station and wireless video links to nearby bird’s nests or tortoise burrows. Durable polished concrete floors are acid-etched with fossil-like ferns. Other LEED features include dual-flush toilets, classroom lighting with occupancy sensors and materials with recycled content. These and other LEED features are explained with signage distributed throughout the campus.

The EEC and School share synergies. The media center, with large north-facing windows to the pineland, and inspirational environmental quotes on the wall, will be a contemplative retreat. The cafetorium offers numerous windows and a stage carved out of site habitat photomurals. At the EEC, an exhibit hall and a wet lab are amenities that are available for after-school programs. The campus will train teaching professionals how they and their schools can be regenerative forces in community life.

Planning, programming and design process

This project represents a new paradigm of school design. The School District and University’s unique partnership is changing both how future educators are instructed and, ultimately, will teach and how elementary children are taught today. The partnership and its focus on environmental education provided a unique opportunity to introduce pedagogical changes to the current County elementary school curriculum. The buildings and site are designed to help teachers teach and students learn, while reducing long-term operational costs.

Collectively the partners are integrating the curriculum of each facility by combining both traditional and built environmental education to provide a comprehensive program of ecological awareness and stewardship. The entire 150-acre parcel will serve as an outdoor classroom and 3-D textbook, and the two adjacent facilities will share numerous site, building system and teaching synergies and design features.

The design for the elementary school includes numerous break-out project rooms and alcoves, story telling areas, wet areas and outdoor interactive learning environments, located for joint use by multiple classrooms as well as the EEC. These spaces provide for serendipitous learning opportunities through project-based learning, cross-age group interaction, collaboration and student-teacher interaction, which cater to various learning styles and enrich and improve each child’s learning experience. The goal of the program is to create life-long learners who will celebrate the natural environment as well as value education.

The preservation of native species and the inclusion of LEED design principles in the facility, such as the exposed ductwork and polished concrete floors, further the message of sustainability while mitigating some of the higher initial costs of LEED-compliant systems. LEED features include: breezeways replace some hallways; a chilled water system; highly-efficient mechanical equipment visible as a learning resource; solar panels (photovoltaic and hot water) visible to children at the Solar Plaza; preferred parking for carpools/alternative-fuel vehicles; waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets; rainwater harvesting of over 14,000 gallons; soil composting; recycling stations; the use of recycled and locally available construction materials; and lighting control systems with occupancy and daylight sensors.

There were many challenges to this project including designing the first LEED public school for a hot and humid climate; fusing two distinct programs on one environmentally-sensitive site; incorporating innovations wherever possible; all on budget, with an urgent schedule. A key element of the design process was the desire to make the “green” elements visible to children. The District’s Maintenance and Operations staff were great advocates for enhanced performance.

As a result of the success of this project, the District has committed to measurable improvements in sustainability. Designed to the LEED Silver Standard, the elementary school quantifies performance in site use, energy conservation, water-use reduction, materials composition and interior air quality. This school combines current construction practice with sustainable construction technology. The CM managed to reduce approximately 75% of the waste and to use a higher percentage of materials that have recycled content and are locally produced. The subcontractors and suppliers were eager to participate in the process, indicating that the regional construction market is becoming greener.