The $16.8 million project had been secured by a consortium of PBA Architects, Crossland Construction and Henderson Engineers Incorporation. The building is located in previously developed field comprising numerous ponds with nature trails being included in the structure. It features windows and skylights to allow passage of natural daylight.
The work areas in the school incorporates energy-efficient lighting systems comprising individual lighting controls with controllable thermal systems to enhance comfort level. All the classrooms in the facility are equipped with their own temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide monitoring devices to enable adjustments for comfort, air quality as well as energy conservation.
The envelope and building systems of the school have been designed to cut down overall energy consumption by over 50% than a traditional building. The structure’s heating and air conditioning system comprises a geo exchange heat pump made of well fields. The pump allows a heat source/heat sink for water-to-air heat pumps located across the entire school and the adjacent Vocational Building. The energy-saving attributes has helped the school to decrease its operating costs.
The new school runs low on water consumption by over 40% with measures taken to control water runoff. Measures have also been taken to preserve the natural vegetation on the region. Other features included in the school’s construction are use of low-toxicity building materials to cut down the level of indoor air contaminants, custodial closets with essential ventilation and exhaust features segregated from learning spaces.
The school will also carry out a thermal comfort survey of building occupants to evaluate total satisfaction with thermal performance and identification of thermal comfort-related problems in 2012.
