The new Vernonia K-12 school will be among a handful of public schools in the country to be certified LEED platinum.

But the school, located in this rural town 50 miles west of Portland, could also be the project that makes or breaks Vernonia.

“This school is essential, if they have any hope of attracting families back (to Vernonia) and becoming a vibrant community,” said Christopher Linn, a principal with BOORA Architects and designer of the school. It may be no exaggeration to say that the “life or death of this town” depends, he said, on the success of the new school.

Vernonia was devastated by a flood in early December 2007. The flood severely damaged homes but also ruined several schools in this town of 2,200. The new school, set to begin construction in the summer of 2010, will directly affect the livability of the community. “It’s really an economic development strategy for the town,” said Linn.

Voters handily passed a bond measure earlier this month. But the bond measure, for about $13 million, will pay for only one-third of the cost of the school. Steve Efros, project manager with Rebuild Vernonia, said additional money will need to come from state and federal grants.

Time is of the essence, as the FEMA trailers currently used by the high school students will have to be returned within two years. The school project has the backing of Gov. Ted Kulongoski, according to Efros. “He wants this to be one of the greenest schools in the state,” Efros said. “He also wants it to be a model of how stimulus funding is spent in the state.”

Grant money from the state Department of Energy was used to do an energy feasibility study, which led project planners to review the many alternative energy options.

Linn said the residents and school district were receptive and ready to give input on how to make the school as sustainable as possible. “A lot of times, you have to go into projects having to educate clients and communities as to the environmental benefits and the benefits to the bottom line,” he said. “When we went to Vernonia, the community was already very well informed and educated." The town’s reputation for being “self reliant,” Linn said, made it easier to convince people that measures such as solar power were in their best interests.

Wood cleared from the site of the school will be used in the school. A cistern collecting rain water will be on display, adjacent to the filtration system, so students can learn about re-using storm water. “The school’s curriculum will be strengthened to focus on natural resource issues, water quality and botany,” he said. There will also be gardens and a greenhouse to support those studies, as well as nearby trails through the woods.

In addition to waterless urinals and low-flush toilets, the school will have solar panels and super-insulated walls. And Linn said designers couldn’t overlook the importance of measures such as orientation of the building – making a majority of the classrooms face either north or south. Skylights will be also be used. A closed-loop, ground-source heat pump will be tied into a radiant floor heat system, and heat recovery ventilators will bring in fresh air. In energy usage, Linn said the building will perform two-thirds better than a similar school built to today’s code.

Because of the building’s size, Linn said there is economy of scale – in terms of the per-square-foot costs of implementing green design tools.

Still, keeping costs down became a challenge. “It’s much more difficult to do a very refined project, because you have to consider every component,” he said. For example, the gymnasium will use concrete block interior walls that will give the structure thermal mass. The blocks also act as acoustical panels and since they are ground-finish, they won’t need to be painted.

“The idea was to find the best fit in terms of sustainable technologies,” said Efros.  “We want people to see Oregon as the future of sustainability and sustainable industries. This will be a high-profile sustainability project.”