Four Winds Alternative and CTE High School

Project Status:

Completed Projects

Indigenous

Education

Scope:

Interior Design
Architecture

Four Winds Alternative and CTE High School is the first school designed to be net zero on tribal land in the country. There are several features that contribute to its energy efficiency including: photovoltaic (solar) panels, a ground-source geothermal heating and cooling system, high-efficiency water-to-air heat pumps, energy recovery system for free heating and cooling, variable-speed fans and pumps to minimize excess energy use, occupancy sensors for demand-based lighting, LED lighting, solar tubes for free lighting, specially insulated walls and roof, and triple pane windows.

<strong>Triple pane windows</strong> help insulate the temperature inside the building.

Triple pane windows help insulate the temperature inside the building.

Educational displays explain how all of the systems work as well as a cased wall opening so students can see what an Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) looks like.

Working with the community and its Tribal Employment Rights Office, Tribal members were trained how to build with ICFs, creating jobs, teaching skills and keeping money local.

The school was designed to have a low Energy Use Intensity (EUI), to allow for a good rate of return on the Solar Panels and other Net Zero design elements.

The building design is a system, each part of the project symbiotically depends on the rest to function.

The school is equipped with photovoltaic (solar) panels, a ground-source geothermal heating and cooling system, high-efficiency water-to-air heat pumps, energy recovery system, variable-speed fans and pumps.