Friday, June 18, 2010

June 2010

project of the month
Clark Middle School
Vincennes Community School Corporation




The New Clark Middle School in Vincennes, Indiana will be dedicated June 24 at 6:00 pm. This all-new Middle School will be the first LEED for Schools certified building in the state of Indiana. LEED for Schools is slightly different than LEED for new construction. LEED for Schools adds requirements and offers credits for the following items:


  • SSp2 - Environmental Site Assessment: Conducting a Phase 1 Environmental Assessment whether your site is on a brownfield or not.
  • SSc9 - Site Master Plan: This credit addresses future expansion (reducing potential demolition and disturbance to the site)
  • SSc10 - Joint Use of Facilities: Offers credit for allowing the school to house public service activities.
  • WEc4 - Process Water Use Reduction: Process water is water used in equipment (i.e. cooling towers, dishwashers). Reducing water used for these machines can earn a credit.
  • EQp3 - Minimum Acoustical Performance: The building is required to meet prescribed STC ratings. 
  • EQc9 - Enhanced Acoustical Performance: By achieving further acoustical isolation, credit are given.
  • EQc10 - Mold Prevention: This addresses maintaining a relative humidity percentage within the building.
  • IDc3 - School as a Teaching Tool: Develop a curriculum that incorporates sustainable design and using the school to demonstrate principles.
Clark Middle School will be an exciting example for the Vincennes community of how sustainable design can affect the teaching environment. Schmidt Associates is proud to have been associated with this project and appreciates the opportunity to influence today's youth through sustainable design.


news


June 2010 - Sustainable Stan Award Winner
Congratulations to Steve Sturm, Schmidt Associates' Project Information Administrator. Steve has consistently used alternative means of transportation to get to work every day - his bicycle. Steve's commute takes him about 1 hour by bike.  Biking to work reduces our carbon footprints and use of fossil fuels. According to a 2001 transportation survey, 2,287 billion vehicle miles were spent which equals $150.3 billion on fuel.
Last month's bike-to-work day should have encouraged other Schmidt employees to join Steve's ritual, however the weather did not cooperate. But, the weather did not deter Steve from riding. He was the only person on staff to ride in. His exemplary behavior is well deserved for this month's Sustainable Stan Award.

2030 Update
The Sustainability Committee has been working hard on several initiatives for the 2030 Challenge. They will present their progress at the next Schmidt Associates staff advance. We will also keep you up to date on the progress here in the Sustainable Stan Journal.  


LEED Bootcamp
The LEED Bootcamp has been completed. Schmidt Associates had 23 participants go through the sessions to prepare them for taking the LEED-AP BD+C exam.  As you may be aware, the current LEED-AP exam consists of 2 parts now; a LEED-GA portion (Green Associates) and a LEED BD+C portion. Taking just the GA portion alone is an option as well. Before the camp was completed, we already had one participant (Seth Mathis) pass the GA exam.  We're looking forward to having more Bootcamp graduates pass the test here in the next few months. Stan wishes you all luck.

Contact Stan
Sustainable Stan now has an official email address:sustainable@schmidt-arch.com. If you have anything you would like to share with Stan feel free to drop him a line.  

events
We do not have dates set for some of our summer sustainability events yet, but we will keep you posted. We look forward to seeing you there:
Random Acts of Greenness - Riley Area cleanup
Carpool to Work/Mass Transit Day
Thermal Comfort/Fresh Air Day
Re-tie-rement Party (swap)
opinion
Stan is very encouraged by the sustainable awareness along Mass Ave. The Athenaeum recently installed a rain garden next to its front door. The Sustainability Committee's own Craig Flandermeyer donated his time to design the area and consult during construction efforts. The rain garden will help reduce the stormwater quantity and help filter it prior to the city storm system. With Indianapolis's antiquated combined sewer system, every reduction in storm water is a benefit.  Enhancing the pedestrian experience of this historic facility was also a goal of the project.  Benches give patrons flexibility to view the rain garden or observe street activity. The birds and butterflies of the avenue will also enjoy the biodiversity of plants now available versus what was previously a monoculture lawn as a space to hang out.  Be sure to check out this project (and its future Greg Nichols designed educational sign) on the way for your next Optimator (Beer - magnifico).