New Orleans Opens Schools Part of $1.6 Billion Plan

NEW ORLEANS — A $1.6 billion master plan to rebuild schools here is coming to fruition with the fall opening of Langston Hughes Elementary School.

The 96,000-square-foot facility is the first school to open in New Orleans since 2003 and is the first public building to open since Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding caused widespread damage in 2005, according to officials.

Several schools planned under the 15-year master plan for the Recovery School District and Orleans Parish School Board are scheduled to open in coming months.

Read more

Budget-Friendly Green Schools

I’m going to come right out and say it: Building a green school doesn’t have to cost a penny more. You’ve heard that green schools save money over time, reducing energy, water and even healthcare expenses. What you may not know is that, these days, a green school can be built for a price comparable to a conventionally designed facility.

I don’t have to prove it. Your peers have done it for me.

Read more

Mesa State College Aims for LEED Gold Certification

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Mesa State College expects to receive LEED Gold certification for its new learning center, which recently won an award from the state’s energy provider and utilizes a ground source heating and cooling system.

Architecture firm HKS, with Design West, designed the $18 million, 60,000-square-foot building. Xcel Energy, supplier of electricity and natural gas in Colorado, hailed the project as the most energy efficient public building on the western slope of the Rockies.

Read more