Upstate N.Y. Middle School gets LEED Silver

Emerson J. Dillon Middle School in the Phoenix (N.Y.) Central School District has received LEED silver certification for its environmentally friendly design.

The district built an 80,000-square-foot addition and made extensive renovations to the existing 130,000-square-foot building. The building accommodates about 750 students in grades 5 to 8.

Ashley McGraw, the architect on the project, says the sustainable strategies used in the project include water-saving building and site strategies, building energy-use reduction and commissioning, existing building reuse and construction waste management, use of low-emitting materials, daylighting, use of a displacement ventilation system in all new classrooms, and strategies to increase thermal comfort. An exterior envelope commissioning program reduces heat loss, infiltration and energy consumption.