Tennessee Archives - ��Ů

Goodlettsville Elementary School Earns LEED Gold Certification

Lindsey Coulter — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:59:52 +0000

The facility was designed to support collaborative learning through flexible educational spaces while serving as a community resource. | Photo Credit: Courtesy of GMC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Goodlettsville Elementary School in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), recognizing the school’s sustainable design and construction.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a globally recognized green building certification program that evaluates projects based on criteria such as energy efficiency, water conservation, material selection and indoor environmental quality.

The 81,750-square-foot elementary school, designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC), incorporates a range of sustainable building features intended to reduce energy and water consumption while supporting healthy indoor environments. These include high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems, and low-emitting building materials such as flooring, ceilings, paints, coatings and insulation to help minimize volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The building’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems include geothermal heat pump air handlers, condensing natural gas water heaters, LED lighting, daylight sensors, centralized lighting controls and enhanced ventilation strategies designed to improve energy performance and indoor air quality.

“We have greatly enjoyed partnering with MNPS to advance its sustainability initiatives. Throughout the design process, our goal was to create a facility that not only met these objectives but also reflected the long-term vision of environmentally responsible design,” GMC Senior Vice President of Architecture Roy Garcia said in a statement. “We sincerely appreciate the commitment and collaboration of MNPS, the general contractor and the user groups. Their shared dedication was instrumental in bringing this vision to life and creating a more sustainable learning environment for generations of students.

Site design and water management strategies also contributed to the certification. Sustainability measures include stormwater management systems, construction waste diversion, the use of recycled and regionally sourced materials, and a graywater harvesting system that captures condensate and roof runoff for irrigation and water closet flushing.

Goodlettsville Elementary School opened in 2023 and has since received several industry awards, including an ENR Southeast 2024 Best Projects Award of Merit in the K-12 Education category, the 2023 Tennessee School Boards Association School of the Year Award for New Elementary School Construction and the 2024 AGC Build Tennessee Award for Institutional Projects.

The facility was designed to support collaborative learning through flexible educational spaces while serving as a community resource.

Project partners included GMC as lead architect, RC Anderson Co. as general contractor, Barge Civil Associates as civil engineer, Structural Design Group as structural engineer and I.C. Thomasson as the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer.

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Tennessee Lawmakers Approve $311 Million for New UT Health Sciences College of Medicine Building

Lindsey Coulter — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:48:32 +0000

A rendering of the College of Medicine Interdisciplinary Building shows a modern building that would be a focal point for the Memphis campus and a point of pride for the College of Medicine and UT Health Sciences statewide. | Photo Credit: University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Tennessee��General Assembly approved $311 million recommended by Gov. Bill Lee for a new College of Medicine Interdisciplinary Building at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UT Health Sciences) in Memphis.
The project totals $350 million and is planned as a 275,000- to 300,000-square-foot facility on Madison Avenue.
UT Health Sciences said the building will support growth, including expanding the medical student cohort from 175 to 250 and the Physician Assistant Program from 30 to 60 students per year.
The university said it must raise an��additional��$50 million in philanthropic support; construction is targeted to begin in late fall 2026, with substantial completion��anticipated��in 2029.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. —��State lawmakers have approved $311 million in funding for a new College of Medicine Interdisciplinary Building at UT Health Sciences, a project university leaders say will expand training capacity and support statewide workforce needs.��

The funding, recommended by Gov. Bill Lee, supports a $350 million facility planned for the Memphis campus on Madison Avenue.��The Tennessee General Assembly approved the funding April 17 for construction of the new facility, which UT Health Sciences describes as a focal point for its Memphis campus and a major investment in health care education statewide.��

The university plans a 275,000- to 300,000-square-foot building on Madison Avenue, between the College of Pharmacy Building at 881 Madison Ave. and the site of the former Holiday Inn at Madison Avenue and Pauline Street.��

“This is a transformative step for UT Health Sciences, as well as for health and health care of the people of Tennessee,” Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, said, adding that the building is intended to serve as “a hub for training future health care professionals to practice collaborative, state-of-the-art care across Tennessee,” according to��.��

UT Health Sciences said the added space would allow the College of Medicine to expand its class size from 175 to 250 students per cohort. The Physician Assistant Program would also be able to grow from 30 to 60 students per year, the university said.��

Project leaders tied the investment to workforce projections. “This is an investment in continuing to meet the significant deficit in physicians and physician assistants in the state of Tennessee, with projections suggesting that there will be a need for 6,000 additional physicians in the state by 2030,” Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Raaj Kurapati said, according to��.��

Beyond classroom and simulation space, the university said the facility will support telehealth training and increase online educational opportunities for the College of Medicine and other colleges, with the goal of growing academic certificate programs and enrollment. UT Health Sciences also said the project is expected to bolster its response to rural health care challenges in Tennessee.��

As Tennessee’s only statewide academic health science center, UT Health Sciences said it expects the new building to enable the university to graduate an��additional��1,450 health care professionals practicing in various fields during its first five years of operation.��

The state’s allocation��represents��the lead investment, but UT Health Sciences said it must raise an��additional��$50 million in philanthropic support to complete the project. That total includes $39 million toward building costs, plus��additional��funding for specialized equipment and program support.��

UT Health Sciences said HOK conducted��a strategic��space inventory and developed programming for the building. The university has selected Memphis-based brg3s architects to design the facility in collaboration with HOK. After��remaining��state approvals are received, the university said it aims to begin construction in late fall 2026, with substantial completion��anticipated��in 2029.��

This article is based on reporting originally published by UTHSC News on April 17, 2026.��

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Wilson County Makes Plans to Build New High School

School News — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 18:00:13 +0000

By Aziza Jackson

LEBANON, Tenn. — Wilson County Schools (WCS) is looking to build a new high school in Mt. Juliet due to a growing student population.

The reports that at the school district’s request, county commissioners voted to approve an amendment that would move $107 million from within their budget towards construction of the new school WCS plans to open in August 2020.

“A big day for Wilson County,” said WCS Director of Schools Donna Wright to the Tennessean. “It was pretty evident that there was not only the recognized need, but that the effort to make sure that we would not only build the new high school, but there would be the support behind building the new high school.”

The district is currently composed of over 18,300 students and 1,707 teachers at 10 elementary schools, three K-8 schools, three middle schools, and four high schools.

According to an earlier from the Tenessean, Mt. Juliet High has a current enrollment of 2,246 students, with an ideal building capacity of 2,000. Lebanon High is currently at 1,922 students and Wilson Central at 1,950 students at buildings also with ideal capacities at 2,000 students.

With a two-year construction period estimated, the new high school will reportedly be built on land near North Greenhill and Lebanon roads.

In 2016, the county approved $46 million for the construction of a new middle school in Gladeville that is set to open in August 2019.

The Tennessean reports that other recent district projects have included renovations at Gladeville, Tuckers Crossroads, Watertown and Southside elementary schools and work to convert the former Lebanon High School into an administrative complex. Mt. Juliet Middle School also recently had theater and restroom upgrades completed.

Reports from the Tennessean contributed to this story.