By Scott Blair
An audacious plan is under way to build as many as 24 new schools in key markets across the U.S. solely through corporate funding, donated materials and volunteer labor.
Dubbed the Green Schoolhouse Series, the idea sprung from father-and-son team Marshall and Jeff Zotara, co-founders of Cause and Effect Evolutions, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based firm acting as organizer, project manager and public relations firm representing corporations and construction industry firms that have pledged financial or in-kind support for the school construction, estimated to cost more than $200 million in total.
Contractors broke ground this month on the inaugural $4-million schoolhouse, dubbed Safari, in west Phoenix. The 6,291-sq-ft building is being built for Roadrunner Elementary School, which serves 800 students and is—like the other schools to follow—an existing Title 1, low-income, public school campus. Future projects will range from 6,000 to 15,000 sq ft.
The schools are designed to achieve LEED-Platinum certification. "There are only two LEED-Platinum schools in the entire country, and they are both in wealthy communities," Jeff Zotara says. "We wanted to give something at the highest levels of sustainability to an underserved community." READ FULL ARTICLE>>
