Many people narrowly focus on energy efficiency when defining a "high-performance" school--a school building that is economical with respect to heating, cooling, and electric lighting. That is certainly true, but in the broadest terms, a high-performance school is designed to minimize reliance on fossil fuels--and provide a comfortable, healthful, productive, and beautiful learning environment--by optimizing the efficiency of the building form and mechanical equipment. Working together, architects, engineers, and environmental designers can achieve this complex goal by integrating effective school planning, sustainable architecture, and sophisticated building performance analyses. In the process, they use energy modeling early in the design process to analyze the building envelope, and mechanical and electrical loads. Daylighting, ventilation, and mechanical/electrical strategies are used to develop and refine the design.