Clark Middle School, Vincennes Community School Corporation
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Low emitting materials and a two-week pre-occupation building flush-out period were utilized to promote the healthy air of the facility. The school also utilized staggered stud construction and acoustical insulation throughout to provide quiet core learning spaces with a decibel level no higher than 45.
All of this, and an energy-efficient mechanical system, contributed to this school being the first school in Indiana to be certified under the LEED for Schools rating system, and it achieved the Silver level.
What a great way to start a new school facility.
news
Update on 2030 goals
During this month's staff advance, the Sustainability Committee presented an update on Schmidt Associates' progress towards meeting the 2030 Commitment. Below is a brief summary of the progress (items in white are yet to be completed):
- Establish a team to guide the firm's 2030 plan. Implement a minimum of 4 operational action items from list provided
- Develop a sustainability action plan.
Design Philosophy and Project Verification Goals
- Update BIM Execution Plan
- Life Cycle Cost Analysis
- Develop Sustainability Case Studies
- Develop Office Standards for Building Envelope
- Develop Office Standards for Orientation and Window Systems
Staff Training/Education
- Conversion of staff to LEED AP+ (to occur in May)LEED Boot Camp 2010
- Include Sustainability training in orientation process
- Include 2030 Training classes in Schmidt Academy
- Become a USGBC certified education provider
Operations
- Upgrade exterior windows on Wil-Fra-Mar building
- Upgrade Mechanical Units
- Develop Sustainability policy
- Develop Sustainable printing policy
- Create a relevant Intranet Site
- Have facility become LEED EB certifiedBecome carbon neutral
Business Strategy/Marketing
- Develop marketing brochure
- Develop Owner training
Also as part of the 2030 Commitment, the firm reported on all of the applicable projects that were in a Design phase during 2010. The charts below indicate how Schmidt Associates scored towards meeting these goals. The goal of the 2030 Challenge is to reduce projects' energy consumption incrementally so that by the year 2030 all projects are carbon neutral. The goal for 2010 is to be 60% more efficient in energy use. This is the first year this information has been tracked and should not be viewed as a failure of reaching the goals established, but merely as a benchmark for improvement. If you have any questions please drop Stan a line.
events
- 2011 Indianapolis Sustainability Awards: March 24 - SustainIndy.org (5 IPS schools renovated to meet LEED criteria are nominated for Energy category - Schmidt Associates is the Program Manager for all IPS projects)
- Plant swap - this spring
- Carpool to work Day - coming soon
opinion
The Sustainability Committee has made a concerted effort to conduct High Performance Scorecard reviews of projects earlier in the design process. The intent of these reviews is to identify opportunities for a project to incorporate sustainable design ideas. By doing these reviews earlier, when a project is just being defined, it helps get everyone in the right mindset and makes it less difficult to incorporate.
Often sustainable design is viewed as an extra effort for a project. It comes with a stigma of increasing cost and requiring research. This is a misconception. It is important to see the whole picture of the facilities we design. The emphasis on the construction cost is somewhat misplaced. The life cycle costs need to be taken into consideration when making decisions during design. Sustainability should be more about taking out of the project instead of adding to it. Our goal should be to reduce the amount of energy that a building is consuming thus reducing operational expenses. It is important for us to know the payback periods of systems we are providing versus an "easier" more economical system.
An example of this would be LED lighting versus T8 fluorescent lighting. Both are efficient lighting types. The LED option uses far less energy though and does not require to be replaced as often. The initial cost difference may not be able to be overcome for 10 years, but if the facility is being designed to last for 50 years this could be a wise investment. It all would go back to the goals of the project and how to achieve those goals.
Our role isn't to make sure sustainable design is incorporated into every project, it is to make sure we are investigating all the options and presenting the whole picture to the Owner. Sometimes it is challenging, but that is what sets apart the good designers, and I am proud to say Schmidt Associates is full of good designers.
See you next month,
Sustainable Stan
Often sustainable design is viewed as an extra effort for a project. It comes with a stigma of increasing cost and requiring research. This is a misconception. It is important to see the whole picture of the facilities we design. The emphasis on the construction cost is somewhat misplaced. The life cycle costs need to be taken into consideration when making decisions during design. Sustainability should be more about taking out of the project instead of adding to it. Our goal should be to reduce the amount of energy that a building is consuming thus reducing operational expenses. It is important for us to know the payback periods of systems we are providing versus an "easier" more economical system.
An example of this would be LED lighting versus T8 fluorescent lighting. Both are efficient lighting types. The LED option uses far less energy though and does not require to be replaced as often. The initial cost difference may not be able to be overcome for 10 years, but if the facility is being designed to last for 50 years this could be a wise investment. It all would go back to the goals of the project and how to achieve those goals.
Our role isn't to make sure sustainable design is incorporated into every project, it is to make sure we are investigating all the options and presenting the whole picture to the Owner. Sometimes it is challenging, but that is what sets apart the good designers, and I am proud to say Schmidt Associates is full of good designers.
See you next month,
Sustainable Stan
