The Top 10 Green Schools in the U.S.: 2005

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10. As-Grows-the-Willow-Grows-the-Child Citation

Learning from the building is a primary part of the teaching process for youngsters in the kindergarten-through-fifth grade Willow School, a private school on a 34-acre former farm in Gladstone, New Jersey. Aiming to preserve the historic and ecological aspects of the place—from making a clean building to offering occasional organic cooking classes in the school's farmhouse—was part of the project. Waterless urinals, metered faucets and low-flow toilet fixtures add to a punch list to please the toughest LEEDs-point puncher, as did low-E glazing on wood windows made from pickle-barrels, natural linoleum and cork flooring and re-used materials throughout. Even the food scraps are composted. Nitty-gritty is the adjective for a design that collects rainwater from the roof in underground storage, treats it with UV light, uses it to flush toilets and pumps it into constructed wastewater wetlands with native plantings and fine root systems that help digest the effluent, returning the water through a sand filter to an aquifer. All of which won Princeton, New Jersey, architects Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects (FMG) a LEED gold rating. "The building block is the classroom," says FMG associate Heidi Fichtenbaum, but the indoor-outdoor connection is essential. Because the firm created a design that connects to the landscape, "it enables the building to interlock with the outdoor learning experience," she observes.

Runners Up

The number of schools across the country making environmental improvements is growing. While we don't have room to recognize them all, we want to clang our flatware to better lunch programs and better buildings. Innovative green buildings open up new educational horizons to students and teachers alike, while serving as examples to other school districts. Runners up for high performance buildings include:

• The Calhoun School, New York, NY, for its abundant daylighting, water-conserving faucets and toilets and a green roof that reduces storm water runoff, attracts bird and insect life and provides space for organic herbs and vegetables for the school lunches,