Thursday, October 1, 2026
An innovative, award-winning structure now adorns the skylines in Hempstead, as the Evergreen Charter School’s recently opened Secondary School stands as one of the first of its kind in the United States.
As one of the first school buildings on the East Coast constructed of mass timber, the building serves as one of the prime examples of when modern architecture meets high sustainability standards. Evergreen uses a cross-laminated timber structure, reducing the building’s carbon impact.
“The inspiration comes from our thinking about the environment and about providing our students with the best possible building,” said Gil Bernardino, president and co-founder of the Evergreen Charter School. “Our inspiration, our values, and our way of thinking resulted in this spectacular building.”
After the structure’s completion in August 2025, the environmentally-friendly facility spans across 89,000-square-feet on Laurel Avenue, creating a space for students from seventh through 12th grades to earn not just an education, but learn about environmental and sustainability awareness.
“What’s really nice about the building itself is that it becomes a prop for teaching,” said Martin Hopp, the building’s architect.
Around the school, there are air sensors that detect levels of chemical compounds such as carbon dioxide. The goal is to have the students seeing these sensors and learn to understand the world around them, and how they interact with their environment daily.
“One of our focuses for the building was indoor air quality, and indoor environmental awareness,” Hopp said. “The students can interact with the [screens], see what the [compound] levels are within the building, and then that can be part of discussions in their classes.”
The building is also taking on the tall task of targeting LEED Platinum status, the highest form of certification given by the U.S. Green Building Council that would mark the site as one of the premier green structures not just among high schools, but also among buildings worldwide.
“There’s very few schools in general that are certified as LEED platinum,” Hopp said. “I think that our project is proof that it’s possible to be ambitious in architecture and our commitment to sustainability.”
While the building is currently at the level of LEED Gold, project leaders still believe that the structure can reach LEED Platinum status. If the accomplishment is achieved, the school would be one of just 264 structures in New York state to meet LEED Platinum certification.
“Knowing that the children in the [Hempstead] community have been up against the odds, that they can call this place their home and that it is the best of the best, we think is super special,” said Sarah Brewster, vice president and co-founder of Evergreen Charter School. “We are very, very close to achieving it, and even achieving LEED Gold status is a huge accomplishment.”
Brewster is a licensed social worker and a therapist.
The building is no stranger to garnering awards and accomplishments. In 2022, the project won the Softwood Lumber Board and U.S. Department of Agriculture Mass Timber Competition: “Building to Net Zero,” one of six winners in the national competition.
“We won that award, and I think that was incredibly encouraging and further introduced us into [the green building] community,” Hopp said. “It was incredibly helpful to have won that, and I think that Hempstead has been raised in profile by having lots of visitors to the project.”
Because of its reputable status in the green-building community, the project showcases Hempstead as one of the first locations nationwide to undergo, complete, and maintain such an innovative project.
For some project leaders, they believe that completing an ambitious project like that of the Secondary School will provide a glimpse of hope for local students coming from difficult socioeconomic backgrounds.
“We really wanted this to be a building where students are inspired,” Brewster said. “This building has become incredibly special for us, because we wanted to put Hempstead on the map for something positive coming out of the community.”
