Durant Road Middle School

Located in Wake County, Durant Middle School is a year-round school designed to accommodate 1300 students from sixth through eighth grades. The green design concept is based on a plan elongated east-west to take advantage of southern orientation for natural daylighting and winter passive solar gain through the continuous single-sloped roof monitors. Overhangs and interior baffles shield all direct sunlight, providing better quality daylighting.

State-of-the-art lighting controls and an energy management system interface with the school system’s central energy management equipment. The daylighting monitors are supplemented by artificial lighting through occupancy and lighting level sensors and controls. HVAC and lighting controls allow individual teachers and management to select their optimum lighting levels for each room. Because of the school’s exceptional daylit energy efficient design, the daylit, environmentally sensitive school was featured in CNN’s “Science & Technology Week.”