Statement on the opening of L.B. Landry High School

Beth Galante, Director of Global Green's New Orleans office

"We're thrilled at Global Green that L.B. Landry, our second "Model Green School," has come to fruition. We've worked hard with the architects, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, and the Recovery School District to make sure this brand new building, housing a historically significant school, is energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and a healthy learning environment for the 900+ students, faculty and staff who will populate it this month. Global Green pushed for some of the school's most notable green features such as solar water heating; rain water harvesting, cistern, and retention pond; and native landscaping. Landry is also "PV ready" meaning that all the wiring has been run and the roof prepared for solar electric panels that can help provide energy for the school.

National studies have shown that learning in a green and energy efficient environment can have profound effects on students and teachers  Green schools protect child and teacher health, increase student performance by as much as 25%, connect students to the natural world, increase average daily attendance, reduce operating costs, improve teacher satisfaction and retention, and reduce overall impact to the environment by reducing operating costs by 20% to 40%.

Global Green is proud to be a part of the team that helped to create one of the greenest schools in the country and are thrilled to have worked with the RSD to ensure that this is just one of many new schools that will help current and future generations learn in healthy energy-efficient schools."

Info from the architect about the school

The 210,000 square foot building will serve a student population of over 900 students and contains a 1000-seat gymnasium, a 250-seat auxiliary gym and a 650-seat auditorium. Additional performing arts spaces include classroom and rehearsal spaces for dance, choir, band and art as well as a black box theatre. The design establishes academic ‘houses’ for each grade level provided within two classroom wings. These are organized to create a central courtyard as an outdoor space for the student body - similar to that of the previous school — focused around a mature existing Magnolia Tree. The design of the building includes sustainable elements that will achieve a LEED for Schools Silver certification.