Center School: Walking its Carbon Talk

As Project Coordinator for the Center School’s beautiful new campus these are exciting times for KSC. Design is complete and the school’s commitment to walking as lightly on its 30 acres of pasture, woodland, wetland, streams, and even a vernal pond is bearing fruit. Our civil engineer/landscape architect, Berkshire Design Group, announced they had used a new carbon calculator to assess the environmental impact of the proposed site work and disturbance.

Recently released by the Landscape Architecture Foundation to assist designers in making decisions leading to a lower carbon footprint, the calculator provided thrilling news: National averages show it taking 20 years to 200 years to offset the embodied carbon released due to construction. A first pass on the Center School design shows the project substantially outperforming the averages with a forecast of needing less than two years to offset the embodied carbon! Though many design elements contributed to this projected outcome, the primary factor was the decision to maintain pervious roadways and parking surfaces throughout the site.

This, along with other eco-conscious elements, including assisted migration, pollinator and bird habitats, salamander crossings and a solar array to power the new building, demonstrates how the final design aligns with the school’s ethos as a model of stewardship for its students and community.