Completed in September, 2006, the Sidwell Friends Middle School is the recipient of the 2007 AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects Award. It received U.S. Green Building Council LEED-NC, v.2/v.2.1 Platinum level with 57 points. It is the first secondary school in the United States to have a LEED Platinum rating and the first LEED Platinum building in the District of Columbia. The AIA write up (See link below) states, “The master plan for the Sidwell Friends School, a pre-K through 12th-grade Quaker independent school, focuses on meeting programmatic needs for its two campuses in Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Maryland, including the unification of the campuses through coherent landscapes and enhanced pedestrian circulation.”There are four major components of the Middle School building that reflect their commitment to environmental stewardship: Water Management, which includes the greenroof; Energy Efficiency; Building Materials; and Indoor Air Quality.

The Sidwell Friends Middle School website (see below) states, “Green roof vegetation holds and filters rainwater; gutters and downspouts direct rainwater to a biology pond, which supports native habitat. Herbs grown by students on the green roof are supplied to the cafeteria.” The planted roof has solar chimneys and photovoltaic panels.