Smarter Air, Smarter Learning

Largest Net Zero Energy School in the U.S. Achieves Excellent Indoor Air Quality

Educational Facilities, K–12

Overview

Alice West Fleet Elementary School in Arlington, VA, is a 110,000-square-foot facility serving 725+ students from Pre-K through 5th grade. Opened in 2019, it is the largest net zero energy school in the U.S., designed to meet WELL and LEED Platinum® standards. Havtech, as the local sales representative, worked with engineering firm CMTA to integrate enVerid HLR® technology, ensuring the school could achieve both ambitious sustainability goals and superior indoor air quality (IAQ).

Challenge

The school’s design team faced two competing objectives:

Deliver excellent indoor air quality for students and teachers.
Achieve a net zero energy design, which required minimizing the energy used to condition outside air.

Meeting stringent IAQ standards typically requires large volumes of outside air — but that increases energy use and costs. The challenge was to balance health, comfort, and efficiency while maintaining net zero performance.

Solution

Havtech collaborated with CMTA to specify and support the installation of three enVerid HLR modules alongside a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS). The HLR modules scrub indoor air of CO₂, VOCs, and formaldehyde, reducing the amount of outside air required while still meeting ASHRAE, WELL, and LEED targets.

By recirculating cleaned, conditioned indoor air, the system:

Reduced the ventilation load.
Lowered overall energy consumption.
Maintained best-in-class indoor air quality levels to support student health and cognitive function.

Conclusion

By pairing enVerid’s innovative HLR technology with Havtech’s local expertise, Alice West Fleet Elementary achieved what many believed was impossible: a large-scale, net zero energy school that delivers outstanding indoor air quality for students and staff.

Details:

Engineering Firm:
CMTA

Building Type:
School

Square Footage:
110,000 sq. ft.

System Installed:
3 enVerid HLR modules integrated with DOAS

Results

Energy & Cost Savings

$15,234 in annual energy savings (137,488 kWh/year).
$304,680 in projected savings over 20 years.
112-ton reduction in peak cooling load.
Fleet uses nearly 68% less energy than a baseline school built to code.

Improved Indoor Air Quality

Average CO₂ levels maintained around 800 ppm (≈15% lower than typical schools).
VOCs and formaldehyde are reduced below WELL and LEED thresholds.
Cleaner air supports improved student health, comfort, and cognitive performance.

Sustainable Design Recognition

Largest net-zero energy school in the U.S.
LEED Platinum® certified and WELL-aligned.
Recipient of multiple design awards, including the ASHRAE National Technology Award and USGBC Green School Award.

“We were looking for options to enhance IAQ to improve the health of the building and students’

ability to learn, but we needed to do it energy efficiently. We found that enVerid’s HLR air scrubbers could be used to achieve this increased IAQ with less outside air, reducing the energy used.”