East End School
- Location
- Portland, Maine
Overview
- LEED Standing
- Silver
- Project Team
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- Builder: Wright-Ryan Construction, Inc.
- Stephen Blatt Architects
Photo by Dan Gair, Blind Dog Photo Inc.
The East End School was designed by Stephen Blatt Architects of Portland, with Joe Hemes, AIA, LEED AP, as Project Architect. It is the first public school in Maine to be awarded a “Silver” LEED rating.
The design of the East End Community School started with several community workshops, which were held to determine the “high performance and green building” goals for the school. The architects realized these goals using an integrated design process with their design team including Fore Solutions and Portland Public Schools. The project, built by Ledgewood Construction and completed in 2006, incorporated many local and regional sustainable building products. The classrooms employ state of the art daylighting techniques coupled with lighting controls to save energy. The building high level of energy efficiency earned a maximum ($120,000) grant from Maine’s “High Performance Schools” Program.
The school has the first “green roof” in Maine, composed of a soil medium and alpine plants which absorb and filter rainwater, provide insulation to the building, and extend the life of the roof beneath. A major portion of the cost of the 1,800 square foot green roof was provided by a grant from Casco Bay Estuary Partnership to demonstrate new techniques for controlling and cleaning stormwater.
On the roof, 18 solar photovoltaic panels generate 2.6 kW, enough electricity to power the average house. The solar panels were donated by Fred Padula of Portland, Maine to encourage education regarding sustainable energy production.
The East End Community School also received a “Merit Building” Award at the third “Excellence in Sustainable Design and Development Awards Program” at the Integrated Design/Integrated Development (IDID) Conference presented by the New Hampshire American Institute of Architects’ Environmental Guild and The Jordan Institute in October 2006. The IDID Awards honor architecture and landscape architecture that demonstrate a high level of sustainable principles and excellence in design.
Stephen Blatt Architects is a 30-year-old Portland firm which has designed more than 50 public schools in Maine.
