Schools going green big-time

St. Mary's claims lead in environmental design race
...
In a nod to the state's Smart Growth policies, the school was built in one of the county's designated growth areas, a planned community called Wildewood carved out of the woods north of Lexington Park and the booming Patuxent Naval Air Station. But in a planning breakdown that's all too typical in sitting new schools in the suburbs, there's no sidewalk along the parkway that connects the school to the neighboring houses - though there are marked bicycle lanes.

That's about the only glitch in the green-ness of Evergreen, but it doesn't seem to faze the students, faculty or staff.
... <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bal-md.gr.greenschool07sep07,0,5804340.story">http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bal-md.gr.greenschool07sep07,0,5804340.story</a>;

by B' Spokes

Like most people I live a hectic life and who has the time for much exercise? Thanks to xtracycle now I do. By using my bike for daily activities I can get things done and get an hour plus work out in 15 minutes extra of my time, not a bad deal and beats taking the extra time going to the gym. In case you are still having trouble being motivated; the National Center of Disease Control says that inactivity is the #2 killer in the United States just behind smoking. ( http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/bb_nutrition/ ) Get out there and start living life! I can carry home a full shopping cart of groceries, car pool two kids or just get lost in the great outdoors camping for a week. Well I got go, another outing this weekend.
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Share It!

Story Options

  • Schools going green big-time
  • 1 comments
Login required to comment
This is posted with permission from David T. Whitaker, AICP, the Deputy Director of Infrastructure Planning in Maryland about today's story. I apologize for the cross-posting to those who saw this earlier on the Smart Growth Schools listserve.

The Maryland Department of Planning is aware of the site and funding situation for Evergreen Elementary School in St. Mary's County. While Evergreen Elementary exemplifies the highest category of LEED, it falls a bit short of the mark in terms of being a community oriented, walkable elementary school per Maryland's Smart Growth model. This was not from lack of effort on the part of St. Mary's County and by the Maryland Interagency Committee on School Construction (IAC) which assisted in the funding of over $12.3 million of the $26+ million cost of construction of Evergreen Elementary School.

The Maryland Department of Planning worked with St. Mary's County in the 2004/2005 time period to locate a suitable site within a certified Priority Funding Area (PFA) for the future Evergreen Elementary School. Maryland's Priority Funding Areas: http://www.mdp.state.md.us/fundingact.htm

St. Mary's County had grown extensively over the preceding decade due to unprecedented residential growth at the Patuxent Naval Air Base. The county had not land banked school sites in anticipation of the major increase in residential growth and then the county found themselves in the difficult position of obtaining a school site in the then aggressive real estate market in Southern Maryland. The Maryland Department of Planning spent many hours reviewing different site proposals from St. Mary's County for a new elementary school. Maryland had a policy of encouraging new sites for public school construction projects into planned growth areas or PFAs, but there was no regulatory mechanism at the time in Maryland to make certain that this was the case. Ultimately, the County opted for the best site that it could locate and made a commitment to build to the highest LEED standard while using the Green technology at the future Evergreen Elementary School as a instructional tool. The Maryland Department of Planning and the IAC agreed to this site at that time since Maryland was then in a period of examining and reassessing capital expenditures for public school construction in terms of Maryland's Smart Growth and neighborhood conservation initiatives and regulatory framework.

We have completed this examination and recommendations are currently being forwarded to the Governor's "Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development in Maryland" to address school siting/funding issues related to Smart Growth community schools, walkability, site needs, land banking, adequate public facilities, community oriented design, and continuity of State funding commitments to public school construction. The recommendations to the Task Force focus on three specific areas: 1. PFA Review of New School Construction; 2. Vertical Schools (urban oriented site design); and 3. Six Year CIP (Commitments of State funding in future years).

My agency has also worked to improve overall coordination of school planning functions between St. Mary's County Public Schools and St. Mary's County Department of Planning and Zoning. The current Planning Director for St. Mary's County is a member of the Task Force and he is chairing a work group developing recommendations on PFA Review of Schools, Vertical Schools and the use of Six Year CIPs.

A link to the Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development in Maryland: http://www.mdp.state.md.us/future_growth.html

A link to MDP's Models and Guidelines No. 27 - Smart Growth, Community Planning and Public School Construction: http://www.mdp.state.md.us/pdf/MG27.pdf

We in Maryland have learned a lot about school siting, school capacity as a factor in residential growth, school sites and design, long term land banking, renovation and replacement, school site inflation, as well as funding and timing for school related capital expenditures since the 2004/2005 time period. As a result, it is a good bet that in the future new school construction in Maryland will be both Smart Growth Oriented and Green.

David

David T. Whitaker, AICP
Deputy Director of Infrastructure Planning

Maryland Department of Planning