In July 2022, the District 233 Board of Education approved H-F’s new science building. The new Net-Zero building will house about 16 new classrooms with established science courses along with additional subjects such as anatomy and physiology. 

Superintendent Scott Wakley explained interesting new classes.

“We got the idea for some of the new classes from our graduates who are going into any kind of medical field. They hadn’t had exposure to anatomy and physiology which are required courses in college for anybody going into physical therapy, pre-med, and a lot of those fields,” Wakeley said.  

With the decision of H-F no longer having physics as a graduation requirement this opens the door to more choices of classes for students.

“There’s some new physics courses related to space and different things like that, so more options related to physics. There will continue to be more course offerings as we get into the building.” 

Construction began July 2023 with a cost of about $24 million. Currently, the substantial completion of the building will be done by December 2024 with everything moving on track.

According to National Grid Group,  the term “net zero” refers to “the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that’s produced and the amount that’s removed from the atmosphere.”

 The term opens conversation on prioritizing our global climate and more.

“This generation of students are more cautious and aware of climate change and are proactive for the future. With the $2 million grant we received for the building, this will help us demonstrate just that. We talk about how these things can be done but it is even more important to model it,” Wakeley said. 

Connecting to the G Building in South, the new building will be one of two Net-Zero science buildings in the State of Illinois (the other is in Stevenson).

Director of operations and maintenance Jim Patterson talks about opportunities for students that will come with the introduction of the building.

“This building is very state of the art, and that’s what we strive for here at H-F. We want to give our students that competitive advantage. To be the second Net-Zero school in Illinois is not only important for our school but our community,” Patterson said.  

As for the future of Net-Zero buildings at H-F we could be seeing a transition.

“Hopefully this isn’t our last Net-Zero building. My goal is to get this building completed and net-zero certified. Hopefully we can see more projects similar to this one in the near future.”  Patterson said.