This summer Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233 received official notification from the U.S. Green Building Council that its North Building Fieldhouse Addition project earned a LEED gold certification under the LEED for Schools Rating System with a total of 60 points awarded. Gold is the second highest level of LEED certification currently offered.
According to the council, “LEED certification identifies Homewood-Flossmoor CHSD 233 Fieldhouse Addition as a showcase example of sustainable design and demonstrates [the district’s] leadership in transforming the building industry.”
The project included refurbishing the student cafeteria and gymnasium, transforming the building’s main entrance into an accessible two-story atrium, and rebuilding and expanding the fieldhouse to allow for additional and more convenient programming for students. To attain the LEED gold-level certification, the renovation featured several green components, including high-efficiency lighting, daylight harvesting, carefully designed mechanical systems, occupancy sensors and dedicated parking spaces for low-emissions vehicles.
Today the new fieldhouse, which opened in late May 2014, is an active building featuring four full-sized basketball/volleyball courts and an indoor track, including separate spaces for wrestling, dance, cheerleading, fitness and athletic-training programs. It also includes an indoor turf field, which is in use year-round by the school’s several athletic teams, marching band and community sports groups, including Homewood and Flossmoor Baseball & Softball and the H-F Soccer Club.
The renovation was designed by Itasca’s DLA Architects and managed by Nicholas & Associates of Mount Prospect. The U.S. Green Building Council — based in Washington, D.C. — is a diverse group of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofits, teachers and students, lawmakers and citizens that share the same vision of a sustainable-built environment for all within the next generation. LEED is a certification program for buildings, homes and communities that guides the design, construction, operations and maintenance. Today, more than 54,000 projects are currently participating in LEED.
Source: H-F Fieldhouse: LEED Gold Building – General News – News | Homewood Flossmoor High School