Dive Brief:

• Dallas-area Highland Park Independent School District has awarded Balfour Beatty a $110-million new construction, renovation and upgrade contract that includes four new elementary schools and a major renovation to an existing facility, the Dallas Business Journal reported.

• The first school on the HPISD's five-year schedule is a 100,000-square-foot, ground-up elementary campus, which is scheduled for completion in 2017. That school will function as a "swing school" to house students and staff who are displaced while the next three new schools are under construction.

• Stantec designed all the schools for sustainability and high-performance according to the Texas Collaborative for High Performing Schools, which focuses on energy efficiency, water conservation and a conservative use of resources. In the construction phase, Balfour Beatty will use BIM and lean construction methods.

Dive Insight:

School systems across the country are increasingly incorporating green design elements and strategies in their new construction. This summer, a Skanska–Megen Construction joint venture won a $77-million contract to renovate five high schools and replace three elementary schools in Cincinnati's Northwest Local School District. The three elementary schools will be built to LEED Platinum standards. In January, Skanska won a $72-million contract to overhaul Washington, DC's, largest elementary school, Lafayette Elementary. Skanska will focus on sustainable features in an effort to meet LEED Gold requirements

In February, commercial property appraisal and consulting firm Metropolitan Valuation Services predicted that the number of buildings seeking LEED status in 2016 would increase "dramatically" and focus on green roofs and LEED, as well as on sustainable and lean construction methods.