The challenge to owners, architects, and engineers at the outset of every project is to create a building that is energy efficient, affordable, comfortable, healthful, and environmentally sound.

Various public and private agencies advocate the construction of "high-performance" school buildings. They argue that such schools would: (1) provide healthy and productive physical environments for students and teachers, (2) would be cost effective to operate and maintain, and (3) would be environmentally sustainable in its use of resources.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy estimates, depending on location, the annual costs of energy and water to operate the typical school is approximately $140 per student per year. They estimate that high-performance, sustainable design solutions can yield savings of up to $56 per student per year.

The attached study examines the costs and benefits of various strategies for incorporating sustainable design elements in to future Hillsborough County schools. In this study, Wilder Architecture, Inc. considers strategies currently used or easily incorporated by the local design architects and the hypothetical effect such strategies might have if applied to their planned new Middle School "RR."