New Jersey is one of the states in the US that is leading the green revolution with incentives through grants, tax credits and infrastructure projects that are helping to invest in the future of the state. One way in which the state is helping to do this is by investing in schools infrastructure by making them more environmentally friendly. Perth Amboy High School is one such school that is leading the way having achieved LEED Silver under the LEED BD+C Schools Rating System.
The new Perth Amboy High School opened in August of 2024 and is a three- story 576,000 square foot facility with classrooms, science labs, culinary arts labs and dance studios for the 3,300 students currently enrolled and is the largest high school project ever funded by the New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Investment in a new high school was needed as the old high school that was built in 1971 was overcrowded. According to nj.com: “Perth Amboy School District enrolls more than 10,000 students at 14 schools with nearly 80% of students are economically disadvantaged. Investment in school upgrades and certifying the project to LEED standards will help students have more resources at school and investment in their futures”.
Within the LEED Silver Certification Perth Amoy High School managed to achieve 51 out of a possible 110 points and is interesting to see what categories the building excelled in and where it struggled. In the Location & Transportation category they managed to achieve 9 out of a possible 20 points going 0 for 15 in the Neighborhood Development Location and Access to quality transit categories. Seeing as it is a high school in the suburbs of New Jersey it is more difficult to have access to quality transit as many students are either driving, walking or riding their bikes to school. Within the Neighborhood Development Location Category most schools, especially high schools, are built in areas that are not necessarily the most centrally located as they have to share space in the town with elementary and middle schools.
Some of the categories in which the school scored highly are water efficiency having achieved 10 out of 12 points; Regional Priority credits having achieved all 4 points and Innovation achieving 5 out of 6 points. Within water efficiency Perth Amboy HS achieved all credits for cooling tower water use, water metering, outdoor water use reduction and 5 out of 7 points for indoor water use reduction. Achievement in this category helps the school save water in the long run through water efficient taps and faucets but also engages with the students the importance of water efficiency. Regional Priority credits that the school achieved where for Sensitive Land Protection, High Priority Site, Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses and Indoor Water Use Reduction. Achievement of these credits how the importance of the issues that the state of New Jersey is trying to mitigate. Perth Amboy HS also achieved 4/5 innovation credits and an extra credit for having a LEED Accredited Professional on staff as well.
One of the categories that the project really lagged in was Energy & Atmosphere category having achieved only 5 out of a possible 51 points. The school achieved 3 out of a possible 6 points for enhanced commissioning credits, 1 out of 1 point for enhanced refrigerant management and 1 out of 16 points for Optimize Energy Performance. Some of the ways that the building can invest in energy credits are through placing solar panels on the roof of the school, investing in green power & carbon offsets and using more energy efficiency lighting. One aspect to note with the LEED process is that Schools & Hospitals are very different than other commercial buildings as there are different energy demands than someone who is utilizing a building for a typical 9-5 job. However, there is such a lag within the overall energy performance that upgrading these systems can lead to a higher LEED Certification.
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nj.com Article: https://www.nj.com/education/2024/08/nj-is-opening-one-of-its-most-massive-high-schools-ever-heres-a-sneak-peek-inside.html
USGBC ScoreCard: https://www.usgbc.org/projects/new-perth-amboy-high-school?view=scorecard