🌐 Net Zero Energy Schools: Lower Emissions, Higher Standards in Baltimore

Modern school buildings designed to push the boundaries of possibility by zeroing out carbon are starting to have a profound impact on student learning.

Holabird Academy and Graceland Park in inner-city Baltimore, the city's first two net-zero energy schools, embody this new approach.

Flooded with daylight, equipped with CO2 monitors to ensure clean air in every classroom, and designed with thermal and acoustic barriers that keep the temperature steady and outside noise at bay, these schools minimize energy consumption while maximizing comfort, cognition, and concentration.

With solar panels lining the roofs and geothermal wells lying below their ball fields, Holabird and Graceland generate as much energy from renewable sources as they consume during the school year.

In an era of budget constraints, these schools provide a roadmap for public school districts across the country. Both schools were built for less than the Maryland state average for new school construction, and by minimizing energy consumption, they are also more affordable to operate.

But the impact of these buildings goes far beyond cutting costs and carbon. Stephanie Novak Pappas, Principal of Holabird Academy, credits the school’s new building with profoundly invigorating the school’s culture. The results are clear:

• Student academic performance is on the rise.

• Teacher recruitment and retention are up.

• Student disciplinary actions have plummeted.

In short, students want to learn there, and teachers want to teach there. Holabird and Graceland are not just slightly improving the status quo; they’re winning the future. 

Amy Upton, Architect and Director of Environmental Design at Grimm + Parker Architects, led the Holabird project. Over her career, she’s engaged in over 85 sustainable building projects, but Holabird stands out. 

What made this project exceptional?

Besides a lot of coffee and doughnuts, there was one other crucial ingredient: a deeply intentional approach to developing and sustaining enthusiasm. Everyone involved—from designers and construction teams to the leadership at Baltimore City Public Schools and the wider community—believed in the vision of creating a world-class, low-carbon school.

But it didn’t necessarily start out that way. Amy and her team had to put in the work.

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Number of the week: 24

That’s how many net-zero energy schools currently serve Pre-K to 12th-grade students across the U.S. These schools are the trailblazers, with many more on the way. You can track their progress in the New Buildings Institute’s public database.

Quote of the week

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Old buildings can be Retrofitted for the Net Zero Future.

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Spotlight: Baltimore, MD

In addition to far-reaching leadership by Baltimore City Schools, the city also leads on several other climate fronts that generate positive environmental and social impacts. Here’s what’s Supercool.

1. Crime-Fighting Trees: The first of several landmark urban studies showed that areas of Baltimore with more tree cover have significantly lower crime rates. A 10% increase in tree cover is associated with an 11.8% decrease in crime. Turns out trees not only remove atmospheric carbon;  they also eliminate bad guys.

2. Cars That Power The Grid: Baltimore Gas & Electric is the first U.S. utility to begin powering the grid using electric vehicles. This widely-followed pilot program pays owners of electric Ford F-150 pickups trucks for plugging in during peak energy hours to help stabliize energy grid operations.

3. Repurposed Materials: The Baltimore Wood Project launched in 2012 with support from the USDA Forest Service after its research found that more wood is often generated from urban areas than is harvested from national forests. The concept: reuse wood from abandoned city structures or fallen urban trees. Today, this initiative lives on through Almanac, a local mill specializing in salvaged wood, giving new life to materials once destined for the landfill.

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