Philly's First Eco-Friendly School

Philly’s 1st eco-friendly school

Darrell Choates, CEO of Choates General Contracting. Inc., hopes to build the first “green” school in Philadelphia. — ABDUL R. SULAYMAN/TRIBUNE CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Not long after Mayor Michael Nutter won election, he introduced Greenworks Philadelphia, his intentions being to “transform Philadelphia into the greenest city in the United States of America.”

And Darrell Choates wants to hold him to that.

Choates, 39, is the CEO of Choates General Contracting. And earlier this month CGC was selected as the general contractor to build the very first green schoolhouse in the city of Philadelphia.

“It’s an honor and a challenge,” said Choates, who inherited the 40-year-old business from his father. “Being a full minority company and facing the systemic barriers that we go through, to win a project like this is outstanding. We are very excited about the opportunity.”

CGC beat out 13 other contractors to become both the general contractor and the structural engineer for the project. The project was awarded as part of the Green Schoolhouse Series, located in Carlsbad, Calif. The goal is to build high-performance and environmentally friendly green schoolhouses in as many cities as possible.

The primary focus of the project is to erect these schools in low-income areas. As part of the agreement, the general contractor on the project will help determine the location of the schoolhouses.

Ground breaking is not scheduled for the Philadelphia project until 2013. The first such school under this agreement is scheduled for ground breaking in 2012.

The schoolhouse model is designed to replace portables that are used as schools in different cities. At a cost of $2–$6 million, they will be used for classroom instruction during the day, after-school programs, and community meeting space on evenings and weekends.

The benefits of these new high performance school buildings are numerous. According to reports from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools and The American Federation of Teachers, green schools contribute to healthier students just because of the healthier air quality. They also use less energy.