n e w s

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2007
For More Information:
Tony Tortorici, SchroderPR, 404.872.7289x15
tony@schroderpr.com

Perkins+Will's Unveils Design of
Georgia's First LEED-Silver High School

ATLANTA, March 12, 2007 - Perkins+Will, the world's leading sustainable architecture firm, designed Arabia Mountain High School in DeKalb County to be Georgia's first LEED-Silver public high school and what could be the prototypical public school of the future.

"The DeKalb County School Board took the lead to ensure that Georgia students will be in a sustainable learning environment that improves their opportunities for success," said Barbara Crum, Perkins+Will's principal K-12 architect in Atlanta. Turner Construction is the architect's design/build partner.   Both companies will participate in the project's groundbreaking ceremonies on March 14.

Located in the environmentally important Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, the school also features small learning communities - another Perkins+Will signature design element - that keep students in more intimate teams for all four high school years.   Research has shown that such learning communities promote team environments, improve student focus, and generate high levels of interest and result in a number of other long-term benefits.

"The 1,600 students who enter this school in January 2009 will discover an environmentally-friendly facility that also fosters improved grades, test scores and graduation rates; decreased drug and alcohol use, and improved opportunities for mentoring," Crum said.

National Heritage Areas are designated by Congress and combine natural, cultural, historic and scenic resources to form a distinctive landscape.   The core of DeKalb County's National Heritage Area is Arabia Mountain, a granite outcropping similar to nearby Panola and Stone Mountains.

Design and construction of the high school will reflect its unique location with a wide variety of sustainable and other unique features including:

• Bio-swales with natural plantings to filter water runoff, particularly from parking lots, cleaning it before it returns to area streams;
• Light-colored roofs to reflect sunlight and minimize atmospheric warming;
• No lights on athletic fields to reduce light pollution;
• Water use is reduced with low-flow plumbing fixtures, waterless urinals and sink sensors;
• Native plantings will reduce the need for site irrigation;
• North-South positioning of the building to reduce energy use;
• Construction materials that are 10 to 20 percent recycled with construction waste to be sorted and recycled;
• Stone, brick, concrete and steel used in the project will be extracted, processed and manufactured within 500 miles of the school site to save transportation energy costs and only easily renewable wood will be used;
• Energy-efficient systems monitored for indoor air quality with 30 percent more ventilation that required by code;
• No materials will emit noxious or harmful odors;
• All lighting and HVAC will have individual controls to energy won't be wasted on unoccupied areas;

Another Perkins+Will design signature, increased natural daylight in classrooms, will boost energy efficiency while improving students' attention and positively impacting their grades.   The 240,000-square-foot facility with 42 classrooms, 10 science labs, a 600-seat auditorium and 1,400-seat gymnasium also includes:

• Bicycle and walking paths;
• Walls of glass providing views of Arabia Mountain;
• Frontal views over athletic fields and the woods and mountain beyond;
• Tree-save areas, including some preservation of old-growth specimens;
• Georgia's first hands-on environmental curriculum.

The two percent in additional construction costs contributed by these features will be offset by operational savings of 20 percent annually over the first five-years, according to Crum.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy Efficient Design as designated by the United States Green Building Council which reviews six categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design.

###