Lebanon High School Awarded LEED Gold Certification

The two-story Lebanon High School located in Lebanon, PA, was originally built in 1969 and houses grades 9-12. To continue serving the district, the building’s infrastructure needed to be upgraded to increase functionality and to address programmatic, code and regulatory requirements. The additions and renovations to the existing school created a structure of almost 294,000 sf, which allowed for an increase in the number and size of classrooms, and for classrooms to be grouped together by department creating collaborative instructional planning areas. Other programming changes improved functionality and provided additional learning opportunities, such as a day-lit atrium that serves as a learning courtyard and a vegetated roof that can be observed from the second floor, as well as increased accessibility and use by the community.

7group consulted with the project team throughout the design and construction phases, guiding them through an integrative process, which resulted in the project earning Gold certification under the LEED Schools 2.0 rating system. As part of the sustainable design, over 95% of the existing structure was maintained to turn the 40 year old facility into a modern high school building. The installation of dual-flush water closets and low flow fixtures throughout reduced potable water use by over 41%. Energy cost savings of over 28% were achieved through an improved thermal envelope, high efficiency glazing, reduced exterior lighting power, energy recovery, and high efficiency ground-source heat pumps. Materials impacts were minimized by diverting almost 83% of the waste generated from landfill and utilizing recycled and regionally manufactured products. The quality of the indoor environment was improved by using low emitting materials throughout, instituting indoor air quality plans during construction and before occupancy, and allowing occupants the ability to control thermal comfort.

With this project, 7group has partnered with teams on 121 projects whose efforts have been certified under LEED, Living Building Challenge and Green Globes, and remains committed to working on progressive projects focused on contributing to the health of each unique place.