SOM’s design for P.S. 62 The Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground has won the 2016 MASterworks Award for Best New Infrastructure. The Kathleen Grimm School is the first school to be honored in the program’s infrastructure category.
Hosted annually by the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS), the MASterworks Awards recognize projects completed in the preceding year that have made a significant contribution to New York’s built environment. “As the first net zero energy school to open in the five boroughs,” says MAS, “P.S. 62 underscores the important role our built environment plays in reducing emissions.”
Located in Staten Island and built for the NYC School Construction Authority (SCA), the Kathleen Grimm School is New York City’s first net zero energy school—designed to harvest as much energy from renewable on-site resources as it uses on an annual basis. The 444-seat, 68,000-square-foot primary school exceeds the standards of the SCA Green Schools Guide, a stringent rating system similar to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® certification process and developed specifically for New York City public schools. As the SCA’s first “sustainability lab,” the Kathleen Grimm School will also help to achieve the OneNYC goals for reduction in global warming emissions.