[Greenbuilding] Super-efficient school buildings

[ErgoDesk]

Passive House is a wise choice and Zero Maintenance should also be a
consideration.

EPS Composite Structures will offer all these plus, Fire, and Earthquake
stability. Example of a 2story structure construction Slide Show to
answer initial questions. http://goo.gl/bpmmmJ
[image: img]

Sincerely,
George Hawirko
*http://about.me/StyroHome <http://about.me/StyroHome>*

On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 12:21 PM, Rob Dickinson <robd at pobox.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I am participating on a school board advisory committee considering
> options for building a new school in my community.  We're charged with
> considering and making recommendations for the general scope of the project
> (such as the size and # of students to plan for, the design features that
> we hope will be incorporated, etc.), along with considering how much money
> we can reasonable expect the community to support in terms of bond
> financing for the project.
>
> In addition to wanting to achieve the educational goals of this new
> school, I have a particular interest in seeing that any new
> buildings that we construct, including public buildings, be built to very
> high standards of energy efficiency and with sustainable materials where
> possible.
>
> On the committee, I expect to be regularly raising the benefits of
> investing in energy efficiency up front, when the greatest gains can be had
> for the least dollars, relative to either spending way more for energy
> costs in operating the school over the course of the next 60+ years, or
> spending way more to retrofit in energy efficiency in later.
>
> I'm curious if you have any particular suggestions for what the district
> should prioritize in terms of energy efficiency features and construction
> requirements.  I would think that the ordering would be roughly similar to
> how one prioritizes for residential construction, with a primary focus on
> the longest lasting components and those hardest to change later, such as
> the building envelope and insulation models, air tightness and ventilation
> system, and highly efficient heating/cooling systems, lighting fixtures,
> etc.  I would also think that this would be a good time to invest in
> renewable energy systems like solar PV, which is at a very low price point,
> and that a bare minimum would be to pre-wire for solar. In Oregon, I
> believe there is a state mandated requirement that 1.5% of a project budget
> be allocated towards renewable energy systems.
>
> I would love to see the school built with a high-R-value wall system,
> using either a significant amount of exterior rigid foam insulation or
> double-stud walls, or both.  I remodeled my own house to have 9"
> double-stud walls filled with dense-pack cellulose and 4" of polyiso rigid
> foam exterior insulation, with similar (or greater R-value) assemblies
> under the house and in the roof.
>
> In residential construction, I take inspiration from the Passive House
> standard, focusing on super insulation and very strict air tightness
> standards.  I think the same general principles should apply for school
> facilities, but I do have questions around how the ventilation requirements
> should differ, given the much greater human occupancy.  Obviously the
> ventilation rates need to provide for adequate fresh air intake, but I'm
> curious as to the health/wellness concerns when you frequently have many
> sick kids inhabiting the same space as healthy kids, and how that level of
> ventilation affects HRV/ERV designs and capacities and the benefits of air
> tightness.
>
> I would welcome any ideas on construction of super-efficient school
> buildings, including:
>
> 1) construction practices
> 2) wall, roof, and floor assemblies
> 3) ventilation designs and practices
> 4) incorporation of renewables
> 5) incorporation of energy monitoring or other systems approaches to
> reduced energy usage
>
> I would also appreciate any references to great projects that we should be
> aware of and perhaps using as models.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rob Dickinson
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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