Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Arlington ISD’s New Agricultural Center Achieves Net-Zero Energy

  • 01/22/19

Arlington, Texas – As the only net-zero building in the Arlington area, Arlington ISD’s Agricultural Science Center now utilizes a photovoltaic solar array and wind turbine to produce more energy than it consumes. Their new interactive dashboard, housed on a 55-inch touch screen, shows that the energy produced is high enough to push the surplus into the local power grid. This dashboard allows students and teachers to see how energy production works in real-time. The dashboard also shows how much energy is being used by different building systems such as HVAC or lighting at any given time.

Arlington ISD Agricultural Center

The new 28,000-square-foot ag center, designed by VLK Architects, has two classrooms, a metal lab, animal pens, and support areas. Because the dashboard is available online, teachers of all grade levels within the district can access the content which can then be utilized for various classroom instruction involving energy conservation as well as agriculture. Additional curriculum and instruction are being developed based on real-time data on weather and moon phases, local watershed information, animal life cycles, and interactive games which are embedded within the dashboard. Multiple elements of the building came to fruition during the design charrette which included students, AISD staff, and school board members. The result was a sustainability program and the potential future expansion of the center to accommodate growth and additional programs.

“Ideally, we would like to eventually include live feeds of the animals, if possible," said Danielle Reynolds, K-12 Science coordinator, AISD. “The idea is to help elementary and secondary students see the connectivity of living and non-living things in our environment."

The Net Zero Energy Building certification (NZEB) is a branch of the Living Building Challenge (LBC) that offers certification for buildings that supply on-site renewable energy for one hundred percent of the building’s energy needs on a net annual basis. The NZEB designation verifies that a building is truly operating as claimed, harnessing energy from the sun, wind or earth to exceed net annual demand.  To earn this certification, a building must actually meet five requirements of the LBC: Limits of Growth, Net Zero Energy, Rights to Nature, Beauty and Spirit, and Inspiration and Education.

Featured

  • Esports are Growing in Popularity

    Video games and esports are a popular social hobby, and it’s one that’s accessible to a wide variety of physical ability levels. Some esport student-athletes have started to earn scholarship opportunities, and high schools are beginning to form teams equipped with the same degree of resources as their physical sports teams. However, the two have very different needs.

  • Phoenix High School Completes First Phase of Campus Renovations

    Metro Tech High School, part of the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) in Phoenix, Ariz., recently announced the completion of the first stage of a campus renovation project, according to a news release. The school reopened a series of public-facing business operations spaces including credit union, daycare, floral, cosmetology, and culinary services. It also includes new CTE learning spaces for the school’s nursing assistant, pharmacy, and sports medicine programs.

  • University of Rochester to Break Ground on New Student Life Center

    The University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., recently began construction on a new Student Life building, according to a news release. The first floor will contain campus-wide gathering, program, and rehearsal space; the second floor will play home to the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life.

  • DLR Group Announces New Mid-Atlantic Higher Education Leader

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it has promoted Principal Shawn Gaither, AIA, LEED AP, to the role of higher education leader in the Mid-Atlantic, according to a news release. Gaither has served with the firm for more than 20 years, most recently as the national higher education business development leader.