About
Community
Commitment to Sustainability
Green Partnerships
As part of a growing national network of schools sharing ideas and best practices in green efforts, a recognized green campus model, and a school that acts intentionally to maximize its commitment to energy efficiency, SHS is further deepening its commitment to environmental sustainability.
Green Schools Alliance (GSA)
The Green Schools Alliance is a nationally based organization that facilitates partnership among schools in the United States and throughout the world. The global peer-to-peer network of more than 3,000 schools enables students and faculty to exchange ideas on how to achieve sustainability. SHS’s membership with GSA helps our students increase awareness of environmental issues on campus and become more involved in various conservation activities.
Sterling Planet
Sterling Planet is the nation’s leading retail renewable energy provider. It offers renewable energy certificates (RECs) from a blend of wind, biomass and landfill-gas-to-energy projects located nationwide. SHS’s purchase of renewable energy credits through Sterling Planet currently offsets 10 percent of the school’s electricity use. As a charter member of this Green Schools Purchasing Consortium, SHS is also partnered with EPA’s Green Power Partnership.
U.S. Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the vision of a sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-efficient green buildings. As a member of USGBC’s chapter network and the first school in the nation to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification at the platinum level– the highest LEED rating a school building can receive – SHS has emerged as a leader of green building practices in education.
The International Living Institute (IFLI)
The International Living Future Institute is the founder and developer of the Living Building Challenge, a certification program that utilizes advanced, rigorous guidelines for achieving sustainability in the green building movement. Its focus is to partner with public, private and not-for-profit sectors in creating socially just, culturally rich and ecological restorative projects. Projects certified under the Living Building Challenge must satisfy requirements in the areas of site, water, energy, health, materials and equity and beauty. The SHS Lower Middle School’s Stevens Library is California’s first school building and the nation’s first library to achieve Net Zero Energy Building Certification, an award presented to SHS in January 2015.
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
