RUFFING MONTESSORI SCHOOL EAST STORMWATER LEARNING LAB
CLEVELAND, OHIO
The Ruffing Montessori School is committed to environmental sustainability. As northeast Ohio's first LEED-certified school, it provides students with a unique "green" curriculum and has established school-wide policies that enforce green cleaning, procurement, recycling, and composting. Sustainable building and site features include a geothermal heating and cooling system, solar panels on southern exposure roof areas, green roof, and water-efficient landscaping.
The new stormwater learning lab reinforces these principles of sustainable living and green education. Designed to provide hands-on experiences that educate students, staff, parents, and the public about the importance of rainwater management and reuse, the design features a hand pump with underground rainwater storage cistern, bioretention cells with interpretive signage and water quality/quantity monitoring wells, permeable pavement with monitoring wells, and a clear downspout and decorative trench drain to remind everyone of humans’ rainwater impact on the environment.
The project received a Community Improvement Award for Sustainability.
