The Charlottesville Waldorf School’s goal is to be the ‘Greenest School in America.’ The design team has adopted the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (USGBC-LEED) rating system to provide the methodology to achieve this goal. Perhaps more ambitious than achieving the LEED’s highest platinum designation is the Waldorf School’s intention to pursue a site and building design beyond LEED platinum certification. That is, the Charlottesville Waldorf School seeks not only to minimize the negative and destructive effects of building upon a site but also to generate a positive net gain (i.e. energy reuse, air and water cleansing, food production, etc.) for the site and surrounding community.

As landscape architects and site engineers for this project, it has been our charge to not only meet all the requirements put forth in the LEED methodology but also to push forward innovations that help the site generate clean air and water to benefit plants and wildlife. For example, our site design and engineering has reduced site disturbance by conserving existing natural areas (mature forest and successional meadow) while restoring damaged areas to provide habitat and promote biodiversity (thickened hedgerows and native plant medicine trail). We have limited the disruption of natural water flows by diverting stormwater runoff through cisterns, vegetated swales, and bioretention areas (LID practices). We have limited the use of potable water for landscape irrigation through conscientious native plantings and water diversion methods. And we have reduced thermal gradient differences (heat islands) between developed and undeveloped areas by providing both shade plantings and highly reflective and/or pervious surfaces around areas such as parking lots, walkways and terraces. These design strategies along with light pollution reduction and alternative wastewater technologies are several examples of the sustainable and regenerative capacity of the Charlottesville Waldorf School.

The Charlotttesville Waldorf School has recently been selected by Dwell Magazine for the Modernist Award that honors those individuals and organizations who further the development of thoughtful and engaging design.

Design Team: McKee Carson, Ted Jones Architects, TOPIA

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