HISD to Receive Award for Green Building Efforts

Green-Where We Learn Matters from Houston ISD on Vimeo.

HISD will be honored Thursday evening (Oct. 11) for its continuing efforts to increase environmental awareness and sustainable construction.

The Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council will present the district with its Green Pioneer Award "for (HISD's) unwavering dedication to building sustainable schools for generations."

For years, HISD has committed to building all of its new facilities to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) standards, which were developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to provide builders a framework and standards for green building.

The district was cited as having the second-largest amount of LEED-registered schools across the nation, according to the Gulf Coast Chapter. Building schools to high environmental standards not only saves the district money with reduced-energy usage, but the buildings and various environmentally sound designs are being incorporated into students’ education.

Berry Elementary, one of the newest schools in HISD, is projected to have a 38 percent reduction in water usage and nearly 25 percent reduction in energy usage. In addition, the environmental science magnet school uses collected rainwater to irrigate the lawns and gardens on the grounds.

All new schools in HISD are also built with priority on natural lighting, reducing energy usage.

The district’s newest high school, Carnegie Vanguard, features a green roof designed to reduce energy costs and serve as an outdoor learning laboratory. CVHS, as do other schools in the district, also features rooms designed for multiple purposes in an effort to reduce building footprints and save energy.

HISD currently has 10 schools with LEED certification with another 20 in the process of receiving certification.