The Friends School opens first net zero school in Maine - 15,000 s/f

The Friends School’s new 15,000 s/f facility - Cumberland, ME

Cumberland, ME The Friends School’s new 15,000 s/f facility – the first net zero school in Maine and the first commercial project in Maine to achieve Passive House Certification – opened its doors to students on September 8. School leaders, students, and building partners led a media tour of the facility, highlighting the efficiency components.

“One of our core values is stewardship and we certainly apply that to our environment,” said Jenny Rowe, head of The Friends School. “This new facility not only provides a symbol of that value, but increases the capacity for our students to learn it and live it.”  

According to Naomi Beal, chair of the building committee at The Friends School and director of passivhausMAINE, the Passive House Standard is determined by three metrics: envelope air tightness, total energy usage and highest heat load. A building’s requirements are projected through modeling and confirmed with post construction commissioning.

The dual achievement of Passive House Certification and net zero energy use was made possible by a special, intergenerational partnership between OceanView at Falmouth and The Friends School. A power purchase agreement with the OceanView at Falmouth senior living community provided the funds to purchase and install a 144-panel rooftop solar array at the school. The array, which was installed by the local solar professionals at ReVision Energy, will allow the school to produce as much energy as it consumes, thereby achieving net zero status.