NYC’s First Fully Self-Powering Public School Is Now In Full Construction Mode In Staten Island

Construction is now fully underway of New York City’s energy self-sufficient school, which when completed, “will harvest as much energy from renewable on-site sources as it uses on an annual basis,” says the project design company, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).

Exterior rendering of P.S. 62, New York City’s first net zero energy elementary school. Image courtesy of project design company, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

The school will be located in the Richmond area of Staten Island, N.Y. to alleviate overcrowding in the neighboring school, and to act as the NYC School Construction Authority’s first ever “sustainability lab.”

The 66,000 square-foot, two-story school is expected to serve about 445 pre-kindergarten to fifth grade students, featuring a construction design that will both maximize the use of daylight for natural illumination and  solar energy harvesting for photovoltaic panels on the roof and south façade.

Interior rendering of P.S. 62, New York City’s first net zero energy elementary school. Image courtesy of project design company, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Further detailing some of the design featured of the school, the NYC School Construction Authority elaborated in its environmental impact statement that the building will be about “29 feet high with an approximately 55-foot-high extension containing photovoltaic panels” and the building will also incorporate energy efficient design features such as a storm-water retention system, and geothermal heating and cooling system.

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