Pleasant Grove charter school going green

Soda cans, cigarette butts, bent nails and packing pallets — none of this sort of trash typical at under-construction elementary schools will have a place in Quail Run Primary School's building history.

The Pleasant Grove charter school, which is scheduled to open at 600 W. 3300 North just in time for the 2010-11 school year, wants Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. That means — among other things — no trash on the building site.

"We'll be recycling all of that as soon as we produce it," said Quail Run board member Barbara Alldredge.

LEED certification, which requires builders to incorporate into plans the latest in resource-saving technology, has gained momentum — and trend appeal — in the 10 years since it was introduced. Just this year, the Empire State Building announced a LEED-inspired energy makeover, Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) went under the green knife and, in Utah, applications for the government's environmentally friendly stamp of approval more than doubled.

Only 25 buildings in the state have met LEED requirements to date, but 182 more have applied for certification.

Quail Run Primary School is vying to become the second Utah school — and the first charter school — to achieve the milestone, following in the footsteps of South Jordan's Daybreak Elementary. Five other K-12 schools, including Hillside Middle School and Gerald L. Wright Elementary, are in the process of gaining certification.

"We wanted to demonstrate that even on the limited building budget you have as a charter school, you can still be green," said Gary Fullmer, trustee of business management and operations for Quail Run Academy.

The state will fund the building, which is expected to cost about $9 million.

Building plans for Quail Run Primary School include water-heating solar panels, ground-source heating and a playscape made, not of plastic, but of forest trails, grassy hills and a native-plants garden.

Architect Steve Crane, of VCBO Architecture, said he designed Quail Run Primary School to capitalize on daylight. Artificial lighting will be used as backup on cloudy days.

"There's a lot of things you have to think of when you're designing a LEED school," Crane said. "You have to consider window orientation, the type of exterior walls, the thickness of the insulation — we could talk all day."

The majority of the building's bricks, metal and other materials will be salvaged from demolition sites and repurposed, he said. The school also plans to use refurbished lockers, furniture and chalk boards.