Greater Victoria School District’s first official LEED gold certified building was recognized Tuesday (Jan. 30) in a plaque unveiling ceremony. Oak Bay High School is being recognized for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The Canada Green Building Council has given the school a mark of excellence for sustainable construction.
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The $50 million school project broke ground in 2013 and was completed in 2015.
“We have put forth a great effort to receive these LEED credits and are very proud of this achievement,” said Edith Loring-Kuhanga, school board chair. “We considered all measures to reduce our environmental footprint and chose best practices that would align with our environmental policy.”
Oak Bay High received the LEED gold certification on May 1. Many things contributed to the certification including: recycling and diverting construction and demolition waste from landfill; installing parking spots with electric chargers; using low emitting paint and flooring; installing lighting control systems, maximizing natural lighting, using high performance windows, and using LED lighting fixtures.
“We are proud to share that Oak Bay High School has reduced its energy consumption by more than half in comparison to other schools its size and that approximately 92 per cent of construction and demolition waste was diverted from the landfill,” said trustee Deborah Norr.
Dave Thompson, the former principal of Oak Bay High who was there at the beginning of the design process, shared a lengthy list of acknowledgements at the plaque unveiling.
“Like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a whole bunch of people and communities to make sure one of these places happens,” said Thompson.
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