Dive Brief:
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The country’s first public high school for black students has reached another milestone: It is the world’s “greenest” school, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
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Dunbar High School in Washington, DC, moved in 2013 from a decades-old building with no windows to a new structure with rooftop solar panels, a ground-source heat pump and a plethora of other energy-saving and sustainable features.
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USGBC’s website hails the building as a “masterpiece of a green learning environment.”
Dive Insight:
Founded in 1870, Dunbar boasts graduates as prominent as former District Mayor Vincent Gray and U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton.
During construction of the new school, contractor Gilbane Building Co. discovered some buried treasure: Crews unearthed the original school’s foundation and found it housed a swimming pool that had been landfilled in place during the 1970s. The new facility features a pool, a gym and an auditorium.
