Kelly Creek Earns LEED Certifications

Kelly Creek Earns LEED® Certifications

Excerpts from press release dated July 2, 2010-

Kelly Creek Elementary School has officially received LEED-EB: O&M 2009 (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance version 2009) and LEED Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Kelly Creek Elementary is the first LEED-EB certified school in the State of Oregon (under any version of LEED-EB) and the first LEED-EB v2009 school to be certified anywhere in the world.

This certification recognizes that Kelly Creek Elementary has implemented continuous sustainability improvement measures guided by LEED-EB. Leonardo Academy was the LEED consultant for this project supporting the successful achievement of Silver Certification.

Kelly Creek Elementary's green makeover and LEED certification were made possible by the Ford Motor Company. In 2008, Ford sponsored the Educate to Escape Contest, a nationwide contest that awarded one K-12 school with the grand prize of an eco-friendly makeover. Kelly Creek Elementary School was chosen as the grand prize winner and, as the contest prize, received a number of green upgrades and assistance from Leonardo Academy with LEED-EB implementation and certification. With assistance from Ford, the school took many green actions that contributed toward earning LEED Silver Certification:

  • replaced water closets with low-flow, dual flush fixtures, installed aerators on all faucets, and installed low-flow urinals, resulting in 5 LEED points and a 38% reduction in water use for a total annual savings of 162,327 gallons (approximately 18 tanker trucks of water!)
  • tested and balanced the ventilation system to ensure compliance with ASHRAE 62.1-2007
  • implemented a green cleaning program mandating the use of 100% green cleaning products in the building
  • installed playground equipment composed of recycled plastic and aluminum, surrounded by rubber tile matting created from recycled tires
  • installed eco-friendly whiteboards in all classrooms and offices and Marmoleum flooring in the school's entryway

Many thanks to Christa Sherwood-Garman (pictured below) for entering the contest and working through the process, Jim Mathews and Jim Koehler for keeping the HVAC systems operating efficiently.