New green school in Sudbury West begins to take shape

Rainbow District School Board Trustees received an overview of the proposed design of the new green school in Sudbury West during the regular Board meeting on Monday, September 22, 2008. Go green features protect the natural environment, provide a healthy place to learn, reduce energy consumption and operating expenses, and make new schools exceptional learning and teaching tools for students and staff.

“Rainbow District School Board has made education for sustainable development a priority,” said Board Chair Judy Hunda. “Valley View Public School, the first green school in Northern Ontario, is a tangible example of the vision that we share for our schools and the communities that we serve. We look forward to continuing to examine this model with our green school in Sudbury West.”

Similar to Valley View Public School, the new school in Sudbury West will have geothermal heating and cooling systems, radiant floor heating, displacement ventilation, fluorescent fixtures, occupancy sensors, waterless urinals, sun screening devices and a wetland biofilter to remediate sanitary waste.

“Ideally, we would like to make our new green school in Sudbury West carbon neutral, where the energy that is used by the school is equal to the energy that is produced,” said Director of Education, Jean Hanson. This would be achieved by incorporating solar panels and wind turbines into the design. Added Hanson: “We will be ready to proceed with this next step in sustainability if and when we secure sufficient funding.”

The new school in Sudbury West will be located on Sixth Avenue in Lively. The school will offer English and French Immersion programs for students in JK to Grade 6 from George Vanier Public School and Jessie Hamilton Public School. Castellan James + Partners Architects Inc. is designing the school. Ameresco Canada Inc. will oversee the construction with a targeted completion date of the fall of 2009.

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Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,
Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,
Rainbow District School Board, 705.674.3171, ext. 7217.