OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Deer Park Elementary School in Owings Mills has debuted as Baltimore County's first "net zero" school; a building designed to create as much energy as it uses.
The goals of the net zero design include lower operating costs, a healthier school environment and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Outside, the building is equipped with roof solar panels. Inside, there is demand-controlled ventilation and, underground, geothermal HVAC, among other features.
"This beautiful new school is evidence of what can happen when we work together on behalf of children," said Dr. Renee Jenkins, the school's principal, in prepared remarks Wednesday.
The new $73 million facility can hold about 300 more students than the previous building, for a total of just over 700.
The old Deer Park Elementary, still standing a short distance away on Lyons Mill Road, was built 56 years ago and is 42,000 square feet smaller than the new one.
"It means this school is a living, breathing science lesson. It means that every single year this facility will produce just as much energy as it consumes," Sen. Ben Brooks, a Democrat,
The school building opened this August, and officials hope it will last another 50 or 60 years.
"It is the fulfillment of a promise recognizing the devotion and resilience of a community that believed in and has always wanted the very best for its children," Jenkins said.
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