Meridian Elementary School 29

A new two-story elementary school for the Sacramento City Unified School District, designed to LEED Gold and built to serve 750 students on a constrained urban site.

Snow-covered mountain range under a blue sky, daytime scene

The new two-story academic wing faces the restored play fields on the east side of the campus.

Snow-covered mountain peaks under a clear blue sky, surrounded by clouds

Rooftop solar and a ground-source heat pump array carry the school to net-zero energy use.

Close-up of a small evergreen tree with lush green needles

The main entry canopy doubles as a covered outdoor classroom.

Snowy mountain peaks emerging from clouds under a clear sky

Native planting and bioswales manage stormwater across the 12-acre site.

Client: Sacramento City Unified School District
Location: Sacramento, CA
Services: Environmental
Markets: Energy
Square Footage: 78,000 SF
Regions: West

Meridian Elementary replaces a 1950s campus that had outgrown its site and its systems. The district asked for a school that could serve 750 students, meet the state’s Collaborative for High Performance Schools criteria, and stay open during construction of the new building on the same 12-acre parcel.

Our team led environmental review under CEQA, prepared the stormwater and site permitting packages, and designed the energy systems, including a 480-kW rooftop solar array and a ground-source heat pump plant that together take the school to net-zero energy.

Phasing was the defining constraint. The existing school stayed in session while the new academic wing rose on the former play fields, and the old buildings came down over a single summer once students moved in. A temporary bus loop and a relocated crossing guard station kept the morning drop-off safe through both phases.

The project finished on schedule and returned $1.1 million of contingency to the district, which funded the outdoor classroom and shade structures that were originally cut from scope.

750

Students Served

480

kW Rooftop Solar

Awards

Project of the Year

Coalition for Adequate School Housing

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Leroy F. Greene Design and Planning Awards
Honor Award

ACEC California

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Engineering Excellence Awards
Net Zero Verified

New Buildings Institute

Zero Energy Schools