Benjamin Banneker Academic High School

District of Columbia’s First Zero Energy High School

District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) rebuilt Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, a new 178,000 square foot magnet school, in the heart of one of the larger underserved communities in DC. This 21st century learning environment opened in 2021 and is accommodating approximately 800 students from large minority populations from all parts of the city with state-of-the-art lab, classroom, and educational spaces. Banneker Academic High School is the District of Columbia’s first Zero Energy high school.

Project At A Glance

Size: 178,000 Square Feet
Cost: $130,000,000
Completed: 2021
Baseline Energy Use: 65 EUI
Modeled Energy Use: 24 EUI
Performed Energy Use: 19.8 EUI
Carbon Reduction: 878.59 MTCO2e Annually
Renewable Energy: 950 kw
Geothermal Piping: 25 Miles
LEED: Platinum Certified
WELL: Gold Targeted
Envelope Air Leakage Rate: 0.08 CFM/SF

Awards

ENR Mid-Atlantic Best K12 Project 2022
IES Illumination Award 2023

The Challenges

Design a zero energy school on budget and on a tight schedule
Target significant decarbonization goals
Create a community-focused learning environment

Banneker’s innovative new school building places learning and community at the heart of its design. Most importantly, it expands our enrollment capacity and will allow us to provide more students with the Banneker experience.

Lewis D. Ferebee

DC Public Schools Chancellor

The Solutions

Design and construction for this project followed the efficient Design/Build procurement strategy. This approach drastically minimized the timeline for completion, allowing DCPS to quickly provide a new high school to the Banneker community. The new school includes a spacious learning commons in the center of the building, fostering collaboration and inspiring creativity. The facility also features modernized informal learning spaces, such as performing arts, physical education, auditorium, central dining, and administration spaces.

Banneker Academic High School was designed as a high performance, energy-efficient facility that produces onsite, carbon-free renewable energy sufficient to offset the school’s annual energy use via a photovoltaic solar panel array. The building maximizes natural daylight modeling, acoustics, high performance envelope, and an energy efficient geothermal HVAC system to provide high indoor air quality. CMTA’s Commissioning team performed envelope air leakage testing via fan pressurization and non-invasive envelope diagnostic testing including thermography services to ensure envelope high performance criteria was met. The envelope air leakage rate obtained (0.088 cfm/sf) exceeded the high-performance marker of 0.15cfm/sf by 40%. The building was modeled to achieve an EUI of 24 and, after 12 months of data, the building is operating at an EUI of 19.8, a 15% improvement from the original design.

Due to the MEP design focus on high performance systems, Banneker Academic High School eliminates 878.6 metric tons of CO2e from the community annually. Additionally, though the new building is 30,000 square feet larger than the old building, the school costs $100,000 less per year to operate. That equates to $1 less per square foot in operational costs! Similar to John Lewis Elementary School, Banneker Academic High School is becoming a national K-12 leader in sustainability. The facility has achieved LEED Platinum certification and the title of Washington D.C.’s first Zero Energy and Zero Carbon High School. As of 2022, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School is the largest operating Zero Carbon School in the United States.

Energy-Efficient Lighting Design

To design energy-efficient lighting in a challenging urban environment, our team began by evaluating various classroom lighting options, focusing on energy, first cost, proper illumination levels, and glare control. Additionally, there was an emphasis on calculating and selecting luminaries to minimize watts per square foot, while simultaneously providing spaces with quality lighting. This enabled needing fewer fixtures. Similarly, luminaries were carefully analyzed for maintenance, since school staff typically perform this work in-house. Occupancy/vacancy sensors were also utilized throughout the building to reduce energy costs. Active community spaces, like the cafeteria, gym, auditorium, and site, are on a networked lighting control system for scheduling occupancy and events.

Creating a space that fosters imagination and creativity was equally important, so the lighting was integrated into the architectural design. The building’s four-story atrium is uniquely designed to bring natural and artificial daylight into the space, reaching the first floor. Decorative pendants light the space and provide visual interest, while translucent panels allow light to be distributed vertically throughout the atrium. In addition, the auditorium's angled walls enhance acoustics and boast vertical, blue LED lighting to give visual direction and shape the environment.

Lighting Design Results

As a result, the project’s lighting design exceeds the stated goals for energy performance and environmental responsibility. The building’s lighting design achieved 0.43 watts per square foot, compared to the code requirement of 1.2 watts per square foot. Aside from operational benefits, the building’s natural daylighting enhances occupant health and wellness, creating an optimal learning environment for students.

The Results

DC Public Schools (DCPS) was excited to provide a state-of-the-art facility for over 800 students, the majority of whom are from large minority populations across the city. The district believes that a student’s affluence should not be indicative of their access to excellent educational facilities, and Benjamin Banneker Academic High School allowed DCPS to put this belief into action.

As DC’s first Zero Energy and Zero Carbon high school, Banneker sets a new standard for sustainable, energy-efficient school design. CMTA was proud to be a part of this innovative project.

Banneker High School Energy Consumption vs. Production

[{"x":"JAN","Consumption":"96300.0","Production":"52047.0"},{"x":"FEB","Consumption":"171600.0","Production":"119872.0"},{"x":"MAR","Consumption":"252000.0","Production":"223294.0"},{"x":"APR","Consumption":"332100.0","Production":"349523.0"},{"x":"MAY","Consumption":"403500.0","Production":"488536.0"},{"x":"JUN","Consumption":"494100.0","Production":"629830.0"},{"x":"JUL","Consumption":"592500.0","Production":"778402.0"},{"x":"AUG","Consumption":"685800.0","Production":"908785.0"},{"x":"SEP","Consumption":"745200.0","Production":"1004154.0"},{"x":"OCT","Consumption":"844500.0","Production":"1084671.0"},{"x":"NOV","Consumption":"926100.0","Production":"1138205.0"},{"x":"DEC","Consumption":"1011000.0","Production":"1184106.0"}]

WHAT DOES THIS DATA MEAN?

CONSUMPTION: ENERGY USED BY THE BUILDING

PRODUCTION: PREDICTED ENERGY GENERATED BY THE BUILDING

Banneker's urban location limited the number of on-site solar panels required to offset 100% of the building's energy use. John Lewis Elementary compensates by overproducing solar energy to allow DCPS to meet their zero energy goals.

Sustainable, High Performance Buildings

We knew we wanted to build a school that would carry us into the future and support next-generation learning.

Melissa Bacon

Fayette County Public Schools

Consulting Engineering

Frederick Douglass High School

The Most Energy Efficient High School in the U.S.

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Leadership

This building [marks] a significant step in the fulfillment...of our commitment to provide our city's children with safe, modern learning environments...It is an example of our determination to press forward until every student has the tools and opportunity they need and deserve to be successful.

Dr. Sonja Santelises

Baltimore City Public Schools CEO

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Graceland & Holabird Schools

Two Identical Schools Achieve LEED Platinum, Zero Energy, and Negative Operational Carbon Emissions

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Leadership

These high-performance designs require incorporating new philosophies, a higher level of detail, and collaboration between disciplines.... CMTA has helped DCPS achieve unprecedented results while maintaining schedules and budgets and ensuring ease of operations and maintenance.

Stephen Kitterman

Project Manager, Department of General Services

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John Lewis Elementary

The First Zero Energy, WELL Certified School

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