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GREEN = Society/Culture + Economy + Environment

This K-12 school in downtown Minneapolis, which was designed prior to the implementation of the LEED® program, is one of the first truly sustainable schools in the country. If it were to be certified today, it would achieve a platinum rating.

The project began as a multi-district desegregation effort, aimed at attracting a diverse group of students to a new school in downtown Minneapolis. The target students were those whose parents worked downtown, regardless of where they lived in the metropolitan area. The school successfully connects students to the downtown environment in a variety of ways, and students in the upper grades benefit by participating in apprenticeships and mentoring programs with neighboring businesses and organizations.

The school has joint-use agreements with many downtown facilities including the library, a performing arts center, the YMCA and St. Thomas University. As a result, students benefit by having more resources at their disposal and the 11 school districts that are responsible for the downtown school saved valuable construction dollars by not building new facilities.

Further characterized as a “green living school,” an environmental focus was established early in the design process that evolved into clearly defined goals related to resource efficiency, daylighting, indoor air quality, materials, reuse/recycling, and building systems. Cuningham Group’s design for the school helps educate youth on how their actions and the built environment affect the natural environment through understanding the school’s air, water, energy, and material systems. Innovative in its design as an environmental teaching tool that provides tangible examples for learning, the school’s response to these goals ultimately creates a living curriculum from which students acquire knowledge and life-skill learning related to a sustainable future.