By Donna Porstner, Stamford Advocate Staff Writer
When New Canaan Country School set out to renovate its upper school building a few years ago, some members of the school community were more interested in leveling the structure than saving it. "It was an unpopular building. It was a brick building on a campus with all white clapboard buildings," said Mark Macrides, the school's project manager. "There was a lot of interest in razing it. But the classrooms were well proportioned, and if we rebuilt it, we really wouldn't have done it much different."

School officials decided not only to retain the original structure, they also devised a "green" building plan that reused most of the steel and bricks in a massive addition that more than doubled the size of the Stevens Building. The 41,000-square-foot building, which houses 170 students in seventh, eighth and ninth grades, opened in September. 

On Earth Day even the naysayers couldn't be prouder as Gov. M. Jodi Rell proclaimed the Stevens building the state's "greenest school" for incorporating environmentally friendly features into the $11.5 million project.

The building was recently certified by the U.S. Green Building Council for meeting its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, known as LEED standards. Projects are rated on the materials used, indoor air quality, water efficiency, and other factors. The Stevens building attained the LEED Silver certification - one notch higher than the basic level. There is also a Gold and a Platinum rating for more advanced projects.

When New Canaan Country School set out to renovate its upper school building a few years ago, some members of the school community were more interested in leveling the structure than saving it.

"It was an unpopular building. It was a brick building on a campus with all white clapboard buildings," said Mark Macrides, the school's project manager. "There was a lot of interest in razing it. But the classrooms were well proportioned, and if we rebuilt it, we really wouldn't have done it much different."

School officials decided not only to retain the original structure, they also devised a "green" building plan that reused most of the steel and bricks in a massive addition that more than doubled the size of the George H. Stevens Building. The 41,000-square-foot building, which houses 170 students in seventh, eighth and ninth grades, opened in September.

Yesterday, on Earth Day, even the naysayers couldn't be prouder as Gov. M. Jodi Rell proclaimed the Stevens building the state's "greenest school" for incorporating environmentally friendly features into the $11.5 million project.

The classrooms have sensors that automatically dim the lights based on the amount of natural light shining in, and photovoltaic panels on the roof that convert sunlight into electricity that powers the building. A monitor on a kiosk in the common area shows students how much energy is being generated at that moment.

Yesterday, the midday sun was pumping out 20.4 kilowatt hours - enough to power 20 air conditioners or 100 computers. On average, the building generates about 7 percent of its total energy consumption.

Even the cleaning products used to scrub the bathrooms - where the partitions between the stalls are a colorful plastic made from recycled laundry detergent bottles - are environmentally safe.

The building was recently certified by the U.S. Green Building Council for meeting its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, known as LEED standards. Projects are rated on the materials used, indoor air quality, water efficiency, and other factors. The Stevens building attained the LEED Silver certification - one notch higher than the basic level. There is also a Gold and a Platinum rating for more advanced projects.

While public schools and universities have LEED-certified buildings, F. Todd Renz, president of the Connecticut Green Building Council, said New Canaan Country School is unique because it's one of the first private schools in the state to meet the criteria.

In Stamford, for example, the new environmentally themed interdistrict magnet school under construction in the Cove neighborhood is being built to meet the LEED Silver standard and the Royal Bank of Scotland's new $500 million office building under construction downtown is vying for the LEED Gold standard.

State Sen. Judith Freedman, R-Westport, who presented the governor's proclamation during an outdoor ceremony at the school yesterday, said the Stevens building renovation raises the bar for school construction projects statewide. She lamented that a recent high school renovation in her hometown was not built to be "green."

"I think it's a standard you've set, that as we go forward, we are going to have to match," she told students, parents and teachers in attendance.

Adding green features can be a tough sell because they typically add 5 percent to 10 percent to the construction budget but there are incentive programs that reimburse schools for innovations that reduce energy consumption, Renz said.

"Right now, the incentives in Connecticut are tremendous - the best in the country," he said.

The money can be recouped over time by lowering utility bills, Renz said.

By recycling building materials from the original structure and finishing the addition before renovating the existing building, the school saved at least $1 million because it did not have to purchase portable classrooms, Macrides said,

"It was nice to make a point and do that and say, 'You can save a building and recycle it,' " he said.