As the first LEED Gold certified public school in New Jersey, Summerfield Elementary takes a hands on approach to teaching and fostering an understanding of sustainable practices with students and the community. With an emphasis on Live Event Learning and indoor/ outdoor connections with the classroom, Summerfield utilizes the surrounding property’s 22 acres of wetlands, streams and nature trails as part of the curriculum. In redeveloping the Neptune Township site, the project team worked to revive the existing brownfield, planting local vegetation and implementing bio swales.

7group guided the project team through the LEED certification process including managing the documentation process and assisted with developing specifications that incorporate LEED requirements. Energy modeling and consulting and daylighting analysis for the project provided by 7group led to a 35% reduction in energy usage and 92% of all areas have direct access to outdoor views and daylighting. 7group’s commissioning agent implemented fundamental and enhanced procedures to ensure the building is functioning as designed.

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As an educational tool, the Summerfield building and surrounding campus excel, incorporating the building’s systems into the curriculum from rainwater collection and irrigation, geothermal heating and cooling, to passive solar energy. Outdoor involvement is encouraged through the interactive education program and the music room which can be opened to an outdoor amphitheater for concerts, plays and assemblies. Students are an active part of the colonial style sustenance gardens and the solarium attached to the building, which acts as a greenhouse. The facility itself significantly reduces energy cost by using geothermal heating and cooling, high efficiency fixtures and thermal envelope. The school also works to restore and preserve the surrounding land with an underground rainwater collection tank and groundwater recharge system.