Whitmore Lake High School, 50 miles west of Detroit, is on track to join the elite ranks of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified projects.

At the heart of this effort is a geothermal system that heats and cools the building and provides it with hot and cold water, making use of the earth's renewable energy. As described by the Loop Group, designer and installer, “The earth’s natural heat is collected by a series of plastic pipes. A portion of the piping system is submerged in the bottom of a pond. Another series of pipes is buried six feet below the earth’s surface, where temperatures are nearly constant year ’round. Fluid circulating through the pipe system absorbs heat from earth, and is pumped into the building. The process is reversed in summer.” Sounds straightforward enough, but the installation area required 250,000 feet of piping! The advantages of the geothermal system? Conservation of fossil fuels and reduction in heating and cooling costs.

The work at WLHS also involved dozens of additional green-building strategies, such as low-emitting paints, carpet, and adhesives; reflective PVC membrane on the roof; lots of low-E tinted windows to increase natural light while reducing glare and heat gain/loss; motion sensors; waterless urinals; use of local materials; and recycling. (In fact, 83% of all potential construction waste was recycled.) The high school itself is a teaching tool for students.

TMP served as project architect.