Facilities & Sustainable Design
Our Campus Facilities: A Model for Sustainable Development
Globally, buildings create over 40 percent of all of the solid waste generated annually, while consuming 60 percent of all of the world’s primary energy. At The Island School, we’re taking a different approach to development, incorporating sustainable design concepts into our campus grounds and buildings to substantially reduce impact on the environment.
With innovative designs — from solar energy and wind turbines, to water-collection cisterns and waste-to-energy processes — we hope to foster awareness in others, as we serve as a model for more intelligent green design in The Bahamas and other island communities around the globe.
Living Sustainably — By Design
Our Island School campus is one of the most eco-friendly campuses in the world. Our location, at the southwestern tip of Eleuthera is an ideal location as we tackle “one planet living” challenges on a micro scale. Here, we not only research and teach sustainable living, but we practice it each and every day.
Wherever possible, we apply the principles of “green design” to our building projects on campus. Our buildings and grounds incorporate systems and design principles that minimize our ecological footprint through the conservation of collected resources like energy, water, and waste. Our community is constantly innovating to improve our sustainable systems on campus. Ongoing projects include:
- Biodiesel production plant to run all campus vehicles
- Cisterns for rainwater collection
- Solar panels to capture energy and heat our water
- Wind turbines to harness wind energy
- Invasive Casuarina wood for our campus furniture
- Aquaponics for the dining hall’s leafy greens
- Poo-poo garden to process waste and fertilize
- Biodigester for fertilizer production
- Pigs, goats, ducks and chickens that recycle food waste
All members of our Island School community work to maintain and manage these systems, learning firsthand what it means to reduce our impact and live sustainably.
The Island School
Stories
The Island School is an ecosystem of education-based programs, an EduSystem that has the vision of ‘leadership effecting change.’ Through these programs, educators and students learn to live on a green campus powered by renewable energy and explore academics outside of traditional classroom walls.
The Island School is a model for sustainable community development for island nation states. We conduct applied research science in food security, waste management, renewable energy and biomaterials to promote self-sufficiency and develop systems that will provide long-term sustainability for our island communities.
A Campus that Functions as a Classroom
At The Island School, we continually strive to improve our ability to live in more meaningful and less harmful ways. Our goal is to create spaces that foster innovative research and educational opportunities and that the space itself becomes an educational tool.
The Island School is committed to a sustainable future and we know that we must live in ways that demonstrate those values. Take a campus tour with us and see for yourself.
