BOSTON,MA - A new high school being built in California's Napa Valley will be one of the country's first to be a Collaborative for High Performance School (CHPS) - verified "green" school. The CHPS program helps communities design and build high performance school environments that are not only energy and resource efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities for a quality education.
Designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA), the American Canyon High School will also be a model of education architectural innovation when complete. The school is organized around an elliptical campus green flanked by four Small Learning Communities, each with its own smaller courtyard. The small learning communities will ensure that students have a stronger sense of belonging, while teachers and administrators are better able to offer personalized academic and emotional support.
Across the campus green will be an elliptical library and administration building, flanked by a theater and gymnasium, which make up the public front to the campus.
The high school will incorporate numerous innovative sustainable design elements. It will include a 500 Kw photovoltaic solar array that will provide more than 40 percent of the campus' electricity. It will also use an advanced ground source heat pump mechanical system, extensive daylighting controls, many sustainable materials, and numerous water conservation mefasures. Together these features will make American Canyon an excellent example of green design.
QKA used the ArchiCAD model throughout the length of the project to design and document the school, coordinate the design with engineers and consultants, create presentation renderings and drawings, and perform energy and daylighting analysis, according to Aaron Jobson, an architect at QKA.
