Van Buren Elementary School is believed to be the first public school in Idaho to earn LEED Certification (Silver). Part of the certification involved the lighting design. The building is V-shaped and oriented to the east to capture as much sunlight in the classrooms and library as possible. This included leaving out the drop ceiling to make the ceilings higher.

International Cellulose's Sonaspray "fc" was a key part in the lighting design. In addition to providing an NRC of 0.80, the Arctic White color has a light reflectivity of 81%which helps brighten the rooms even more. Sonaspray also contributes in three LEED categories, re-cyled content (80% postconsumer), low VOC content adhesives (<20 gm/l) and has no added urea formaldehydes.