Story

This facility showcases “Sustainable Design” concepts and technologies which have now become staples of Zeeland Public Schools’ building construction and maintenance programs. It includes a modern media center and food-service area as well as advanced athletic facilities and laboratory classrooms.

The building is heated and cooled by heat pumps linked to a network of closed-loop geothermal wells located under an adjacent practice field. In addition to adding extra insulation to the roof and walls to minimize heat loss, the roof is covered with white ThermoPlastic Olefin (TPO) membrane to substantially reduce heat gain during the cooling season.

A small wind turbine and Photovoltaic Array generate a portion of the building’s power. In addition to being connected to the electrical grid, these features have been connected with special monitoring equipment used as teaching tools by the school’s Technology Department.

Strategically sized and placed windows and sunshades allow significant amounts of natural light to enter the building reducing the need to utilize artificial lighting while still significantly reducing solar gain during the warmer parts of the year.

It has been documented that this High School (Zeeland West), which is similar in size to its sister school (Zeeland East) located only 1100-feet to the east, is saving the taxpayers nearly 50% in energy costs compared to the traditional systems in use at the Zeeland East building.