Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last month that New YorkCity's first-ever green public school will be built on the lastvacant building site in Battery Park City. The newelementary/middle school will add 950 seats to servepre-kindergarten through the eighth grades, and will also include100 seats for special education students.

Construction of the Battery Park School will adhere to Local Law86 and the New York City Green Schools Rating System. Plans are toreduce energy costs by at least 25% by using day lighting in allinstructional rooms, energy-efficient lighting controlled byoccupancy sensors, increased insulation in the exterior walls, highefficiency condensing boilers, Energy Star-equivalent equipment,carbon-dioxide sensors in large common spaces and photovoltaictechnology.

The building will utilize mold-resistant and low-VOC (volatileorganic compounds) materials to enhance indoor air quality, alongwith 12% recycled content in construction materials. In addition,80% of the construction waste will be recycled, and high-efficiencyplumbing fixtures will be employed to use 40% less potablewater.