Northern Guilford Middle School

Greensboro, North Carolina

A Holistic Approach to 

Sustainability 

Guilford County Schools (GCS) has made 

a strong commitment to sustainability and 

is leading the way for schools in North 

Carolina and the United States to build 

green. Through its green design specifications, the G3-Guilford Green Guide (www.

gcsnc.com/depts/facilities/G3.pdf), GCS 

has become the first North Carolina district 

to outline sustainability standards for its 

schools. Because of these efforts, GCS 

received a Sustainable Energy Leadership 

Award for helping the state achieve its 

energy efficiency, renewable energy, and 

sustainability goals. 

GCS understands a whole-building 

design approach is necessary to build a 

truly sustainable EnergySmart school. It 

asked its design team to develop holistic 

and innovative green schools with wellintegrated systems. For Northern Guilford 

Middle School, this meant planning for 

daylighting, heating, cooling, and air 

distribution early in the design process 

to identify and address energy requirements. By determining how these systems 

interact and by sizing them appropriately, 

schools can meet energy goals at the same 

first costs as traditional schools. It also 

ensures that the school becomes a living 

laboratory where students and the 

community can learn about energy and 

resource conservation.

Goals

GCS has definite and aggressive goals

for its new school projects:

• Reduce operating costs

• Protect the environment

• Design buildings that teach

• Improve academic performance

• Optimize health, safety, and comfort.

To achieve these goals in Northern Guilford 

Middle School and other projects, GCS 

takes an active role in the process. The 

GCS Facilities and Construction Department manages design and construction. 

Each project has a Building Advisory 

Team composed of the design team, school 

principal, school staff representatives, 

parents, and board of education members. 

At the high school level, GCS asks students 

to participate. The board of education also 

appoints a Construction Advisory Team, 

composed of board of education members, 

an architect from a local university, construction executives, and local business 

leaders, to offer input into the process. 

Photo: Innovative Design

ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

“Northern Guilford Middle School 

demonstrates that you can build 

a school that provides a better 

learning environment, reduces 

long-term operating costs, 

and lessens the impact on the 

planet without spending more 

money up front. Our planning 

incorporated a holistic approach 

that focused on daylighting and 

other green strategies. Even with 

these features, construction costs 

for Northern Guilford Middle 

School were the same as for a 

comparably sized school built 

without sustainable and energyefficient features. The cost of 

building a school like this is 

not an issue.”

 —Joe Hill, Guilford County Schools 

Facilities Consultant

Project Details

Building: Single story, 140,000 square feet

Completed: January 2007

Financing: General Obligation Bonds

Cost: $20.7 million; $148 per square foot; 

$21,789 per student 

Capacity: 950 students

Energy performance and savings:

43% below a comparably sized school 

based on ENERGY STAR® data; $77,097 

annual reduction in energy cost

Energy costs: $0.65 per square foot per 

year and approximately 45,000 Btu per 

square foot annually

Guilford County School District:

• 111 schools

• 71,237 students
One of the key goals for the team was to 

design Northern Guilford Middle School 

to be a three-dimensional educational 

experience. Students get a hands-on look at 

conservation and renewable energy through 

all the features at the school, including a 

wetland ecosystem. The learning opportunities at Northern Guilford will increase 

awareness of energy use and environmental 

issues for future generations.

Resources

GCS developed the G3-Guilford Green 

Guide to outline the key steps to achieve 

an energy-efficient and sustainable school. 

GCS also follows energy saving recommendations from the Advanced Energy 

Design Guide for K–12 School Buildings

(available at www.ashrae.org/aedg), which 

was developed by the American Society of 

Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American 

Institute of Architects, the Illuminating 

Engineering Society of North America, 

the U.S. Green Building Council, and the 

U.S. Department of Energy. The Advanced 

Energy Design Guide provides prescriptive 

methods, by climate zone, to build a school 

that uses 30 percent less energy than the 

ASHRAE 90.1-1999 standard. GCS plans 

for its schools to save at least 30 percent 

but sets an ultimate target of 50 percent 

reduction in energy use. Because of this, 

the GCS design team relies on additional 

energy-saving measures determined through 

energy modeling.

Energy Modeling and 

Trade-Offs

The design team used the eQUEST (Quick 

Energy Simulation Tool) interface to the 

DOE-2 simulation program to perform 

extensive energy modeling. The modeling, conducted throughout the design and 

construction phases, helped balance the 

heating and cooling needs based on all the 

systems, including lighting, the under-floor 

air distribution system, and the variable 

air volume system. Understanding the 

interactions of these systems is critical 

to sizing the heating and cooling systems 

accurately and reducing construction costs. 

The energy modeling was especially 

important because of unique systems in 

Northern Guilford Middle School. First, 

the lead architect on the project, Innovative 

Design, developed a new daylighting 

design. Northern Guilford uses southfacing clerestories with curved, interior, 

translucent light shelves that produce more 

diffused light throughout the classroom. 

Northern Guilford also incorporates an 

under-floor air distribution system in the 

classrooms, media center, and administrative offices, which eliminates ductwork 

in the ceiling that can interfere with daylighting. The new light shelf design and 

the unobstructed ceiling mean less glazing 

is needed to reach the desired daylighting 

level, which translates into lower cooling 

loads. Clearly, every design decision 

influences other decisions, so optimizing 

all the systems concurrently helps develop 

the most efficient school at the least cost. 

Financing

Funding for Northern Guilford Middle 

School was provided through the sale of 

General Obligation Bonds authorized 

by the voters of Guilford County. Local 

property taxes provide the primary source 

of debt service funding for the bonds.

ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

Graphic: Innovative Design

Schematic section of classrooms showing daylight strategies

Northern Guilford Middle School Energy-Related Goals

Goal Project Outcome

Decrease energy use to about half that of a typical school. Based on ENERGY 

STAR® data, a typical school uses about 79,500 Btu per square foot annually.

Northern Guilford Middle School currently uses about 45,000 Btu per square foot 

annually, which is 50% to 60% of the energy used by a similar school in this climate.

Reach an optimal level of daylighting to improve student and faculty 

performance and maximize energy savings.

Natural light is the primary source of lighting for all educational and administrative 

spaces during two-thirds of the daylight hours. This level of daylighting minimizes 

the fenestration-to-wall area ratio and eliminates heat gain from extra glazing.

Reduce the size of the school’s heating and air-conditioning system. The central boiler/chiller is 20% smaller than a typical system for a school this size.

Lessen water consumption significantly.

By collecting rainwater for use in toilets and implementing a plant-based treatment 

strategy, called a Living MachineTM, to purify wastewater for irrigation, the school 

saves roughly 9 million gallons of water per year.
ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

“Studies show that students perform 

better with natural light. In addition to 

educational benefits, daylighting offers 

significant energy and money savings. 

The school is not paying for electricity 

for artificial lights. The school also does 

not need to pay for cooling as a result 

of the heat from the lights. All these 

dollars saved can be directed toward 

the teachers and students—where the 

money should be going.” 

—Michael Nicklas, President, Cofounder, 

Design Principal at Innovative Design in Raleigh, 

North Carolina, and Lead Architect for Northern 

Guilford Middle School

Results

Northern Guilford Middle School requires about half the energy of typical schools. The 

integration of daylighting, a highly insulated building envelope, and an under-floor air 

distribution system enabled the size of the air-conditioning system to be reduced by 75 tons. 

DOE-2 energy simulations indicate the daylighting strategy reduces lighting energy use by 

50 percent, peak load by 11 percent, and overall energy use by 19 percent compared to the 

ASHRAE 90.1-2001 base model. 

All this was accomplished at the same cost of a similar, nongreen school. And the school is 

expected to save more than $70,000 annually in energy costs, or about $0.50 per square foot, 

bringing the lifetime cost of the building below that of a standard school. Planning and a 

whole-building approach make these energy-saving features possible at no additional cost.

Northern Guilford Middle School—EnergySmart Choices

Feature Benefit

Solar power

A drainback solar thermal system comprised of 10 compound parabolic collector panels provides 75% of the school’s hot water. The school also 

features three photovoltaic (PV) systems totaling 1.5 kW that are used for the school sign and the wetland’s aerators. They are also used as an 

educational tool. Using PV for these remote energy needs was less expensive than running electrical lines from the main building. 

Building envelope

The school features thermal mass walls made of concrete masonry units (CMUs). Mass walls with exterior insulation help keep the building 

comfortable in the summer and winter. The CMUs have a 43⁄4-in. cavity filled with foam-in-place insulation, made of amnio-plast resin and a 

catalyst foaming agent surfactant. The result is an R-37 rating for the entire wall assembly. The two roofing systems used, a thermoplastic 

membrane and an insulated metal roof, are rated at least R-30. These materials have a high reflectance that reduces heat gain and cooling load. 

Overall, the envelope is more insulated than standard practice; the wall insulation is 3 times code and the roof levels exceed code by double. 

Site orientation 

and design

The school is oriented on an east-west axis to take advantage of southern exposure for applications such as daylighting, solar hot water, and 

PV. The surrounding landscape was disturbed as little as possible during construction.

Daylighting

Extensive daylighting is used, including revolutionary curved, translucent interior light shelves. These, in combination with highly reflective 

ceiling tiles, reduce the square footage of glazing by 40%. This design provides uniform light with less glare. The gymnasium and dining areas 

feature south-facing roof monitors with translucent fabric baffles in the light wells to diffuse the light through the space. Overhangs on the 

monitors protect the space from direct light and reduce cooling loads. Natural light is the primary source for all educational and administrative 

spaces during two-thirds of the daylight hours. Daylighting produces half the heat and the same amount of light as fluorescent fixtures.

Windows

Clerestory windows for daylighting use clear double glazing to minimize glass area. Lower-view windows facing south and north have clear, 

low-emissivity (low-e) double glazing. Windows facing east and west have tinted, low-e double glazing. Choosing windows specific to each 

use optimizes the natural light and decreases costs.

Lighting Dimmable, indirect, fluorescent lighting is installed throughout the school. Occupancy and photocell sensors help to minimize the use of 

artificial light. The foot-candle setpoint for the classrooms is 60.

Heating, 

ventilating, and 

air conditioning 

(HVAC)

The under-floor air distribution system enhances comfort, air quality, flexibility, and energy efficiency. This system distributes heated and 

cooled air, provided by the central boiler/chiller, evenly throughout the space. This system requires considerably less ductwork than a standard 

HVAC system, which helped reduce construction costs. Because of daylighting and other efficiency strategies, the school’s heating and airconditioning system is 20% smaller than is typical for a school this size.

Water

Northern Guilford Middle School committed to reducing water use by promoting a water cycle approach: rainwater to toilet flushing to a 

cleansing wetland to underground irrigation and finally to the aquifer. A 360,000-gallon tank collects rainwater from the school and from an 

adjacent high school. This water is used primarily for toilets and saves 4 million gallons annually. The next step is to funnel the wastewater from 

the toilets and urinals to a wetland with a plant-based cleansing strategy that treats up to 30,500 gallons per day. This water then goes to a 

subsurface irrigation system, or drip system, for the fields, which uses 40% less water than sprinklers because of reduced evaporation. By using 

the water twice, the school saves a total of 9 million gallons per year. In addition to the money saved by recycling water, the school avoided 

spending several million dollars to extend the city waste lines. 

Materials

Following the G3-Guilford Green Guide, the carpeting, metal roofing, and acoustical ceiling tiles contain recycled content. The design team 

also chose locally manufactured masonry products and certified wood. Almost 60% of total construction waste was recycled. Also, the school 

implemented a recycling program. 

Indoor 

environmental 

air quality

Northern Guilford did much to improve the indoor air quality, including using low volatile organic compound (VOC) paints and adhesives, 

increased ventilation with outdoor air, high-efficiency filters, and urea-formaldehyde-free casework. The G3-Guilford Green Guide provides 

detailed specifications to ensure occupants are protected from indoor air contamination.

Monitoring The solar water heating, PV, daylighting, rainwater harvesting, and wetland systems are monitored in real time. The monitoring systems and 

data are readily available to faculty, students, and visitors and are part of the school’s curriculum.
A Strong Energy Portfolio 

for a Strong America

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable 

energy will mean a stronger economy, a 

cleaner environment, and greater energy 

independence for America. Working with 

a wide array of state, community, industry, 

and university partners, the U.S. Department 

of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy invests in a diverse 

portfolio of energy technologies.

ENERGYSMART SCHOOLS CASE STUDY

For more information, 

contact: 

Joe Hill

Facilities Consultant

Guilford County Schools

336-370-3488

hillj@gcsnc.com

Margo Appel

Program Manager

EnergySmart Schools

202-586-9495

www.energysmartschools.gov

Importance of 

Monitoring the Facility

A key lesson learned from Northern 

Guilford Middle School is that the work 

is not complete once classes start. When 

Northern Guilford first opened, it was 

performing at an unexpected rate of 85,166 

Btu per square foot annually. The design 

team, led by Michael Nicklas of Innovative 

Design, studied the building carefully to 

identify reasons for the higher energy use 

and discovered a natural gas leak. Mainly 

by addressing the leak and making some 

initial control and balancing modifications, 

consumption dropped to 65,195 Btu per 

square foot annually. The team continued 

to analyze the building and also found 

that many controls were either not set 

properly or were not functioning correctly. 

An important finding was that the carbon 

dioxide monitor was malfunctioning and 

pulling in 100 percent more outside air 

than necessary. Addressing these issues 

resulted in additional savings and this 

year’s predicted consumption is around 

45,000 Btu per square foot annually. 

The performance of this school has improved dramatically since it first opened 

because the design team:

• Set specific energy goals and did extensive modeling to predict performance

• Took the time to follow through after the 

school was complete to compare actual 

and predicted performance

• Easily identified that the building was not 

initially performing as planned because 

of the modeling

• Persisted in contacting utilities, manufacturers, and others responsible for problems.

Mr. Nicklas cannot stress enough the 

importance of continuing to monitor the 

building and work on performance once 

construction is complete. Utility bills must 

be monitored to see if energy use matches 

projections. All the controls must be 

examined to confirm they are programmed 

correctly and operating as planned. Design 

teams need to plan for resources to do 

this critical work after construction. GCS 

realizes the importance of post-occupancy 

monitoring and is now establishing a 

district-wide energy monitoring program 

to gather the data needed to verify the 

effectiveness of energy efficiency measures.

The school is very close to operating as 

planned and achieving the projected energy 

savings—using only about half of the 

energy of a typical school. And, the school 

was built at no additional cost compared 

to a typical school. If you ask any of the 

school administrators or GCS staff, they 

would all agree Northern Guilford Middle 

School is a resounding success.

Lessons Learned

• Plan carefully at the beginning of the design 

process and sustainable, energy-efficient 

schools do not cost more.

• Do the right analysis to understand the 

trade-offs with various technologies.

• Follow a commissioning process to achieve 

peak performance and efficiency.

• Concentrate on the controls, as these pose 

the biggest problem in achieving high levels 

of energy efficiency if not set properly and 

monitored.

• Design the daylighting so that teachers and 

students do not need to be actively involved 

in managing it.

• Supplement daylighting with indirect lighting 

because it has a similar look.

• More work is needed in humid climates 

where moisture must be removed from the 

air but the air does not necessarily need 

to be cooled.

• Provide good training and orientation for 

the building staff.

The design team has worked to improve the 

energy performance of Northern Guilford Middle 

School since its opening. The team expects total 

energy costs, given normal weather conditions, 

will be $91,503 per year, which is $77,097 less 

than a comparable school would spend, based 

on ENERGY STAR data.

$200,000

$150,000

$100,000

$50,000

$-

Comparable school 

based on ENERGY 

STAR data

Northern Guilford 

Middle School

$115,000

$53,600

$38,278

$53,225

Electric Gas

Total: $168,600

Total: $91,503

September 2009

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50% wastepaper, including 10% post-consumer waste.

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