Colorado's first Platinum LEED School:  

Boulder Valley School District's New Casey Middle School

Solatube domes on the living green roof bring daylight into the building

Sustainability  

from the ground up: Designing LEED Platinum  

with  

Daniel LeBlanc  

of YRG Sustainability, 

Derek Young   

of RB+B Architects,   

and  

Ghita L. Carroll  

of Boulder Valley School District  

(BVSD) Board

Boulder Valley School Board envisioned the new Casey Middle School as a state-of-the-art facility that is the physical embodiment of the BVSD's sustainability management system.

Casey parents' focus was the learning environment.

Historic Boulder's interest was to save a precious piece of Boulder's past.

Students were given the opportunity to share ideas in planning meetings.

Community ecosystem considerations included reduction of light pollution, joint use of facilities, water efficiency, and the use of native species for landscaping.

RB+B's beautiful and energy efficient daylight-focused design incorporates the historic building façade, bringing Casey into the future - and back into the heart of this north Boulder community.

Solatube Tubular Daylighting Systems  are an integral and important part of this project, significantly reducing the power demand, as well as  helping to achieve LEED Platinum.  

Solatube Daylit classrooms improve the learning environment,  and allow effective use of daylight for a majority of the school day.    

Classroom lights automatically adjust to changing ambient light patterns to keep consistent light levels and minimize electric light demand.

Casey's  efficiencies and energy conservation strategy allow the entire Boulder community an opportunity to see how their choices can impact their environment and future generations.   

The new structure is 50% larger than the original school, yet its energy consumption has been reduced significantly, and will save the Boulder Valley School District an estimated  $127,000 in annual utility costs over the life of the system.

Adolphson & Peterson Construction (A&P) broke ground in March on a new 109,000-sf PK-12 School Facility for the Holly School District. Holly is a wind-swept rural farming town on the border of Kansas and Colorado. The tiny community has survived devastating tornadoes and long dry seasons. In 2010, Holly chose RTA to Master Plan and design their brand new school facility. The new state-of-the-art school building has a focus on sustainability and will feature energy efficient systems, classrooms conducive to learning, and will include 66 Solatube Tubular daylight. Many of the tubes will run through multiple stories - with some runs up to 50 feet in length.

The project is targeting a LEED Gold certification, and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2013.

Rocky Mountain Lazy J bar S Ranch - Loveland, CO

Horses love Daylight too!  Lazy J Bar S has installed Solatube daylighting devices in their boarding facility.  Check it out Here:  http://www.jbars.com/welcome.htm