Public School 62, located on a 3.5-acre site at the intersection of Crabtree Avenue and Bloomingdale Road in Staten Island will be the city’s first net zero energy school upon its completion in approximately two to three years. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2012.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, a New York-based architectural firm has been selected to design the 444-seat, 700,000 sq ft school which will include Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes.

The plan for the school follows a request for proposals put out by the New York City School Construction Auhority which has been making progress on energy saving and sustainable initiatives through its NYC Green Schools Guide.

As stated in its request for proposals, the SCA said, "We want to push the envelope on this advanced green design project, which will be our 'sustainability lab.'"

Roger Duffy, SOM Design Partner and head of the firm’s Education Lab called the project in a statement, “an extraordinary opportunity to help define a new paradigm for school buildings for New York City and beyond.”

In addition to PS 62, SOM has created sustainable designs for projects such as the Pearl River Tower in China which is currently under construction and the University Center for the New School, here in New York.

-Carolina Worrell