As soon as she saw the overgrown plot of land, nestled among the neat lawns and peaked roofs of two-story homes on the South Shore of Staten Island, Bruce Barrett had a vision of the future. The vice president for architecture and engineering at New York City’s School Construction Authority (SCA) recognized an opportunity to test an innovative concept that could change the way that public schools are made. “When I saw the assignment,” Barrett says, “I thought, ‘Wow, this is going to be our chance to build a net-zero school.’”