In our Net Positive Education™ (NPE) framework, a supportive learning environment is an important contributor to the health and well-being of children, teachers, staff, and the larger community. This approach leverages the tools of net zero energy (NZE) design to reduce energy usage and integrate renewable energy systems. To document the impact of NPE and NZE, we conducted pre- and post-occupancy evaluations of Benjamin Banneker Academic High School and John Lewis Elementary School. Both new buildings, which replaced obsolete facilities, were completed in 2021 within the District of Columbia Public Schools’s facility modernization program. In our multiyear study, we assessed how our design strategies impacted school performance and occupants’ teaching and learning experiences. The results are published in Impact of Design: The Case for Net Positive Education in School Design.
A summary of the report is available on our Insights blog.