H. Allen Hight Learning Center

High performance, sustainable new school 

The H. Allen Hight Learning Center is a high performance, sustainable new school project that combines a middle school and elementary school on the same site. The two schools share certain support facilities such as offices, library, food service, and large meeting spaces, as well as common areas of site improvement such as visitor parking and general landscaping. The project was executed through a lease/lease-back arrangement for funding/construction delivery under California legislation.

Description 

The CHPS designation would only result from a comprehensive program of environmentally sound and student-friendly design and construction to provide maximum sustainability. Because of H. Allen Hight Learning Center’s high performance, sustainable design features, the Natomas Unified School District received $400,000 in Prop 1D funding and qualified for an $89,000 incentive from the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) “Savings by Design Program”. Prop 1D is the State of California’s initiative for the design of sustainable, high performance schools and funds are awarded by the Division of the State Architect (using the same criteria as CHPS) for high performance school design. SMUD’s “Savings by Design” program awards financial incentives for energy saving building designs.

• It is the first public school of its kind in the state with a “green roof,” where an administrative and library building is topped by a foot of dirt and sedum plant cover that baffles unwanted sound and provides a biological way to clean the air.
• Other high performance features include using recycled building materials, low-emission paints and adhesives to improve indoor air quality and plentiful natural lighting to cut energy usage.
• Landscaping to provide drought tolerant, low pollen emitting trees

Combined with the long–term financial benefits of building schools this way, HAH is a winner for the environment, the students and staff, and the taxpayers.