San Francisco’s Waldorf High School Avoids Landfill, Finds Rebirth as Green High School of Future
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 09.11.07
Designed with the idea of fostering an atmosphere where independent thought and personal social responsibility are the norm rather than the exception, the Waldorf School’s newest addition to their thousand strong campuses around the world is an interesting take on the future of high schools everywhere. Essentially, they’ve taken the initiative to completely redesign their high school building in San Francisco, and they’re unveiling the new digs just around the corner on Sept. 17th.
So what have they chosen to include in this, the high school of the future? Well, for starters how about the fact that rather than demolishing the old building they simply saved the pieces, and through a bit of technological wizardry were able to put them all back together again. Of course, this time they’re in a much greener configuration. With a smarter usage of natural light, heat and ventilation, the addition of a 99% efficient boiler, smart sensors that pump outside air in if C02 levels get too high inside, infrared and C02 sensors to locate vacant rooms and adjust ventilation accordingly, new energy-efficient windows, and even cabinets and counter tops made from recycled paper and glue composite they’re aiming to help students put those lessons on independent thought and personal responsibility into action.
And ultimately, in fact, they’ve even made the grade as San Francisco’s first LEED Gold high school. With a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for 8pm on the 17th, and the tour directly following it promising to be a classic peek into the future, I do suspect it may be a great opportunity to stop by and congratulate a justifiably beaming group of parents, teachers, students, administrators, and board members.
Regarding the San Francisco Waldorf High School building and LEED certification.:
Kenny Luna is slightly jumping the gun. While the San Francisco Waldorf School and the architect for the remodel, David Bushnell of 450 Architects, are to be congratulated on their work toward an environmental model for reuse, they have not yet been awarded the Gold LEED certification. We very much hope and anticipate that they will get this recognition, but it will be a few months before we know.
PS. The ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 8am not pm on September 17th.
Mark Darley
Father of a Waldorf High Schooler, and Architectural Photographer
Thank you for the clarification. When I wrote this post awhile back, the information I had at the time indicated the school had already received gold cert. Obviously, that information was incorrect, though I cannot remember now just where it was located.
Hopefully you can let us know when and if it is a done deal.
-kenny