Hyattsville Elementary School Has Greener Future

Blooming crepe myrtle trees and plantings worthy of any well-kept neighborhood flank Hyattsville Elementary School's entry.

But Principal Jeanne Washburn is looking forward to going greener.

Already named a Smart Site, plans are in design stages to install solar panels on the school's roof to provide 10 percent of the school's power. A kiosk in the school's front hall will allow students and teachers to track the solar energy being stored and used.

Smart Sites are site-specific capital projects that encourage public and private investment and green building practices in existing Maryland communities, according to a state website.

In a second aspect of the plan, a retention wall on the property will be replaced and the new one will create a temporary pond when it rains to prevent runoff, allowing the water to percolate back into the soil. Students will undertake science projects to plant native species in that bioretention area, Washburn said.

Partial renovation of the historic school is expected to support the revitalization of the Route 1 corridor.

Hyattsville Elementary met some of the requirements for such a project – it is a neighborhood school on a small site and had approval for capital improvements, said David Lever, executive director of the state's public school construction program.

The site also will meet standards called LEED that all new schools will eventually meet.

An internationally recognized green building certification system, LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (GBCI) to measure energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources. Hyattsville Elementary School is expected to meet the "silver" level of those standards, Lever said.

GBCI rates and certifies buildings according to their standards. The two higher standards are gold and platinum.

For Washburn, the greening of her school also involves sheltering her students.

"What I really want is more green, more oxygen-producing plants," she said.

The tree plantings she envisions, which must be native species, would provide a barrier between the school and Jefferson Street.