Academy for Global Citizenship

Sustainable 21st Century Education

The new Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC) is an early-childhood and K-8 charter school located on the southwest side of Chicago. Community engagement, earth stewardship, connection to nature, nutrition, and agriculture are central to the educational mission of AGC to empower all students to positively impact the community and world. The campus design serves as a learning laboratory that reinforces wonder and self-directed experiential learning through relationship-driven environments. Features include a fully productive farm, off-grid learning, and a greenhouse. The campus will further serve as an incubator for visiting scholars.

The project aims to be a global exemplar of sustainability and is pursuing the Living Building Challenge, the most rigorous sustainable building certification system in the world. The project Net-Zero energy (105% of annual needs), Net-Zero water, and is constructed with low carbon and non-toxic materials. It also provides daylight for 90% of the occupants and fresh air above the required code minimum. An air quality monitoring system and full access to all the building and site metrics are incorporated into the academic curriculum. 

Net-Positive Water employs an integrated set of water collection, conservation, reuse, and treatment strategies. Building roofs will also collect as much water as possible.

With a mission of fostering environmental stewardship, the building itself serves as a teaching tool for the students with exposed and labeled MEP systems and windows into mechanical rooms.