New Hubble Middle School going green

When Hubble Middle School - the new one - opens its doors in 2009, students can walk out onto the roof, stretch their arms and swish them through tall prairie plantings.

The roof is going green. Not only is it aimed at helping make the building more environmentally friendly, it allows students a creative outdoor classroom in which to study biology and ecology, said Robert Rammer, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 spokesman.

It's one of a myriad of elements incorporated into the design of the new $58 million building with an eye on energy efficiency and the environment. Officials want the building to earn a LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - certification, which recognizes a high standard of "green" construction and design.

To help with the $250,000 process of building to those standards, and getting the certification, the district got a $135,000 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.

"The certification process is a way for somebody outside to come in and make sure what we promised to do is being delivered," Rammer said.

It's not just about the green roof, although that is one of the more interesting features.

The Warrenville school will have mechanical systems that are 20 percent more efficient that those normally installed in schools, drought-resistant landscaping, low-flow plumbing fixtures, a five-acre stormwater basis filled with wetland vegetation and use materials with a high recycled content.

The school also will have a white, rather than a traditional black, roof. Those "cool" roofs are more reflective of heat and harmful sun rays, help keep the building more cool and don't deteriorate as fast as traditional tar surfaces, Rammer said.

The under-construction building is along Herrick Road between Butterfield and Warrenville roads.