DK GreenRoots

In Sayerville, NJ, the doors of the Center for Lifelong Learning recently opened. It's a school that can serve up to 175 students with autism and related disorders, providing education and training for many life skills which are taken for granted by neurotypicals.

Here's the kicker.

The facility, designed by USA Architects, is one of the first public school buildings in the state to be built according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, and could become the first to be certified LEED Platinum. This is due largely to its all-natural building materials and its use of green power.

About 94 percent of the materials used to build the facility are recyclable, and all the materials were purchased within a 500-mile radius, many of which were harvested specifically for the project, according to MRESC Superintendent Mark Finkelstein. There are also geothermal wells under the building that catch nearly 75 percent of the rainfall to be recycled and reused.