ENERGY STAR Building Design Profile

This building design achieved Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR, distinguishing it as one of the nation's best in design intent. If the school is built and operated as planned, and continues to meet or exceed EPA criteria for energy performance, the building can earn the ENERGY STAR label.

The La Villita Elementary School project design was driven by two factors—first, adhering to the surrounding development's aesthetic style, and second, creating an energy-efficient design with minimal additional cost to the owner. The development in which La Villita Elementary will be located reflects Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean architectural styles.

To make the building design more energy efficient, the design team focused on three strategies. The first involved the location and size of the glazing because of the team's desire to minimize direct solar heat gain. Large expanses of glazing were minimized on the south and west facades, and clerestory windows were oriented to the north.

The second design strategy included the use of large overhangs to protect the glazing from direct sun where needed. These overhangs appear primarily above the large expanses of glazing at the building entries and the library—where daylighting is desirable, but direct sun would provide significant solar heat gain.

Finally, the design team ensured that that the building envelope was insulated properly, exceeding the requirements set forth in the International Energy Conservation Code.

The design team chose to do an analysis of other recently completed Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD elementary schools and use historical data from these projects to calculate an energy usage estimate for the completed La Villita design. Their rationale was that the new school would be of the same construction, use similar equipment, and be operated using the same guidelines, etc., as the existing schools. The energy use for the existing schools was broken down into kWh per square foot and mcf per square foot and averaged. These results were then multiplied by the area of the new school to obtain estimated usage.

On completion of the design and with the estimated usage from the analysis described above, the design team input data for La Villita Elementary School into EPA's Target Finder tool to obtain the project's estimated design energy rating and associated greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs. The project achieved a rating of 80 (out of a possible 100), exceeding the minimum rating of 75 required by EPA to qualify as Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.

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