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Study will determine cost of making Benton High School renovation ‘green’ |
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Tuesday, 10 June 2008 |
Benton School Board members on Monday approved a free feasibility study to consider turning the high school renovation plans into a “green” project.
“We agreed to price the project,” Stan Hobbs, vice president of Nabholz Construction said. “If we see that it is going to cost too much to do, then we’re out of it. If it is feasible, then we’ll come back and give the cost to you.”
Superintendent Tony Prothro said that this would only be a feasibility study and asked the board to let Nabholz find out the cost of turning the building into a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified facility.
LEED is a “green” rating certification program that designates that a building project is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to occupy. Green buildings are designed to use less energy, require less maintenance and provide an environment that is healthier than traditional building designs.
In a workshop last week, school board members reviewed documents related to the renovation of the high school, and they have indicated that they favor a LEED building, which have been shown to out-perform their non-green counterparts. Hobbs said that in the long run, with a LEED building, the school can save a lot of money.
“A LEED-certified plan could pay back the cost in three to seven years,” Hobbs said. “Once it pays back, it continues to save.”
Board member Sam Stueart said he doesn’t see the harm in Nabholz conducting a free feasibility study.
“It doesn’t sound like we can lose by investigating,” Stueart said. “In fact, I think it is prudent for us to investigate and see if it is feasible for us to go green.”
Taggart Foster Currence Gray Architects also presented its schematic design of renovation plans for Benton High School and said the actual construction work could take some time.
“We are looking at starting the construction next year,” said Jerry Currence, Taggart vice president. “We need to keep the kids safe while we are building, and in order to do that we have to tear down buildings in phases. Some of those buildings have asbestos that has to be cleared out, and that can only be done during the summer while the kids are not there. That could take two summers to do all that.”
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