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Perkins Eastman Celebrates Groundbreaking of First Elementary School on U.S. Military Base to Pursue Net Zero Energy

The energy was palpable at the Friday, September 13 groundbreaking for the Forrestal Elementary School, the first elementary school located on a U.S. military base to pursue Net Zero Energy. Dr. John Price, superintendent of North Chicago School District 187, spoke to this energy—its promise and its possibility—in his opening remarks: “This project today is potential energy. It is the child sitting at the top of the slide waiting to come down. It’s the choir director perched on the edge of her chair ready to start a new song,” adding, “when we break ground, we will turn that potential energy into kinetic energy – we will put this project officially into motion. In the words of the students at Forrestal, ‘Brick by brick, beam by beam, Forrestal will be a beacon of light.’”

When it opens in 2026, the renewed Forrestal Elementary School, located at Naval Station Great Lakes, about an hour and a half north of Chicago, is projected to serve a diverse student population of 580 students from both military and non-military families. The 100,000-square-foot building’s design places the library and dining area at the heart of the school, highlighting literacy, health, and well-being as central to educating the whole child. It also provides space for Forrestal Elementary School to expand its offerings, currently from kindergarten through third grade, to include kindergarten through fifth grade education.

“It is an honor to work with the school, Naval Station Great Lakes, and North Chicago Township to create a sustainable, high performance learning environment that celebrates the culture and landscape of the base and North Chicago, inspires more engaging, student-centered learning, and fosters health and well-being among students, staff, and the entire community,” states Perkins Eastman Principal Sean O’Donnell FAIA, LEED AP, leader of firm’s K-12 practice.

Forrestal Elementary School is funded through the Public School on Military Installations (PSMI) program. This program provides 80 percent of the funding from the federal government, while the remaining 20 percent comes from the local school district, which also owns and operates the building. As part of the PSMI program, the school meets stringent safety requirements, including the Navy’s Antiterrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) standards, which involve a progressive collapse structural system and blast-resistant glazing.

Net-Zero Energy (NZE) is a new requirement of the PSMI program, which aligns well with Perkins Eastman’s considerable expertise in high performance, sustainable schools that are targeting NZE. Forrestal Elementary is on track to become one of the first net-zero elementary schools in the Midwest and the first of its kind on a U.S. military base. Strategies to achieve this ambitious goal include prioritization on passive design (solar orientation, window placement, shading, ventilation, among other strategies) minimizing energy consumption and maximizing sustainable energy production. Key building systems contributing to this include geothermal wells and solar panels mounted on the roof and over parking areas. Building materials conform to the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) and have been further vetted to meet sustainable and healthy materials standards.

The elementary school is the second project that Perkins Eastman has designed at Naval Station Great Lakes, with recent work including a complete interior renovation of USO Illinois: Great Lakes Center in 2021.

The new Forrestal Elementary School building is scheduled to open in 2026.