Lake Bluff school goes for efficiency
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn was the featured guest Thursday at Central Elementary School in Lake Bluff. District 65 received a $100,000 grant for a new environmentally friendly building to replace the 1960s-era original.
The $19 million replacement for Central Elementary School in Lake Bluff will be taking environmentally friendly design to a deeper shade of green.
In an unprecedented level of community involvement, Elementary District 65 officials and the public agreed to pursue a special certification for the project, which will combine two schools.
Under its strategic plan, the district will discontinue the use of the K-2 East Elementary School as an educational facility and expand Central as a new K-5 building.
When complete in August 2009, the new structure will become the first public school in Lake County to have secured Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.
"What we put here will help you make the future what you want it to be," school board President Eric Grenier told a group of third- and fifth-graders gathered Thursday for a special check presentation.
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, a strong supporter of environmentally sensitive projects, was the featured guest as the district was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to help defray the cost of the LEED certification.
Quinn told the youngsters there is a green way of living and a green way of acting.
"It's not just government, it's all of us as persons to work for a healthy environment," he said.
"Green building" has become a popular catch-all term for incorporating energy-saving techniques and other measures -- such as providing for a maximum of natural light -- in new buildings and renovations. The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification has been described as a national benchmark for such design.
There are 50 LEED-certified buildings in Illinois, according to Bob Roma of the community foundation. About 20 public schools of more than 3,500 are in the LEED design process but only one -- Bolingbrook High School -- has received the designation.
That involves a point system for green features used in a variety of categories, such as water efficiency. The number of points determines which of four levels -- certified, silver, gold or platinum -- is achieved.
District 65 voters last spring approved a $24.5 million tax hike to build a new K-5 building and to make renovations at its middle school. After extensive public input, the school board opted to pursue a silver certification.
That made the taxpayer-funded project more expensive. School officials didn't have a specific amount yet but Timothy McGrath, the project architect, said it usually adds 2 percent to 4 percent.
That has become an issue in some cases. The Lake County Board, for example, opted not to take that route with its planned central permit facility in Libertyville because of higher costs.
"Initially, a few of our community members felt the same way," said Corinne Torkelson, a school board member. "When you look at the efficiency of the building over time, that's all going to come back."
Supporters in Lake Bluff say the extra expense eventually will be recaptured through energy and other savings. The green environment also will be better for student and teacher performance, they added.
"For this community and this school board, they felt it was all worth it," said Jane Taylor, the district's director of business services. "It's truly an investment for this community."