Three HMFH School Buildings Earn LEED Gold Certification
Three HMFH school buildings achieved LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for the successful implementation of numerous sustainable design strategies! All three received a perfect score in the LEED Innovation category, meaning the designs exhibited exceptional performance beyond the requirements set by LEED.
Chapman Middle School
Weymouth, MA
The new Chapman Middle School serves 1,470 students in grades six through eight with state-of-the-art learning and gathering spaces. As the largest middle school in Massachusetts, student well-being was a focal point of the design and drove many of the project’s sustainability goals, from fostering a sense of belonging for all students to encouraging a healthy lifestyle.
Key Sustainability Elements
- A variety of sunscreen strategies respond to each of the building’s solar orientations, reducing glare and improving occupant comfort
- High-performance building envelope, ventilation, and air distribution systems maintain a comfortable and healthy interior environment
- An accessible ½ mile walking loop connects two playgrounds and three fitness stations, promoting an active lifestyle and community use
- Reuse and renovation of the gymnasium save on embodied carbon
Center for Science and the Environment
Bristol Aggie | Dighton, MA
With Bristol Aggie’s unique curriculum rooted in science, environmental, and agriculture-based education, the new Center for Science and the Environment (CSE) is a living-learning lab that promotes hands-on research and experiential learning. Close ties between the school and the landscape led to sustainability goals focused on water conservation, which now reduce indoor water use in the CSE by 68%.
Key Sustainability Elements
- The CSE is the first school building in MA to utilize composting toilets
- Two vegetative green roofs reduce stormwater runoff and offset heat island effect
- Roof water is captured and reused for irrigation
- Environmental graphics explain these sustainable systems for educational purposes
Gilbert Hall
Bristol Aggie | Dighton, MA
The renovation and addition to Bristol Aggie’s primary academic building, Gilbert Hall, showcases the environmental benefits of reusing existing buildings. The 1935 structure was redesigned to accommodate modern learning environments, maintain the building’s original character, and save on embodied carbon compared to new construction.
Key Sustainability Elements
- By reusing 69% of the original building’s structure and envelope, the design saves 744 metric tons of carbon
- The team conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to understand the environmental impact associated with raw materials, manufacturing, and transportation of concrete, metals, and masonry to inform design decisions
