Manhattan's first School Construction Authority (SCA)-certified green school opened on Sept. 2 at 213 E. 63rd Street. Designed by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, the building will serve as a temporary home for Public School 59 (also known as The Beekman Hill International School), a pre-K through fifth grade elementary school. It will eventually relocate to 57th Street and 2nd Avenue. The 63rd street location will then become a new neighborhood school.

"The temporary home of PS 59 has become a victory for the school, the neighborhood and the New York City public school system," says David Lowenfeld, executive vice president of The World-Wide Group, the project's real estate developer. "The new PS 59 is an example of how private and public interests can work together for the greater good of the local community."

This is the first school to comply with the Department of Education's NYC Green Schools Rating system, which was adopted in 2008 to comply with a set of sustainable design standards for public construction projects in New York City, established by the City Council in 2005. The Department of Education developed the NYC Green Schools Rating System based on LEED requirements for USGBC. The new PS 59 includes a rooftop play area, a full-sized gymnasium, common learning areas, science laboratories, and spacious classrooms. A new HVAC system utilizes a superior filtering system. The windows were replaced and glazed with low E-coated glass, which helps keep heat out and light in. The building uses steam for heat.

"We wanted both the interior and exterior of the school to express the tremendous energy of the school and its students," says Raya Ani, AIA LEED AP, associate principal at EE&K Architects. "By adding a new gymnasium atop the existing building we were able to add colors and bold forms while honoring and preserving the building's integrity; we gave the building a new dimension while at the same time preserving its historic beauty."