By Lindsey Coulter

The all-electric, zero-net energy Maplewood School in Menasha, Wis., won’t welcome its first students until the fall, but is already setting a new standard for sustainability. The school will not only include 160 geothermal wells and a 1.14-MW roof-mounted solar photovoltaic system but will also enhance occupant health and wellbeing with its state-of-the-art ventilation system, wealth of daylighting and connections to the surrounding natural environment.

The 223,430-square-foot facility will replace the community’s existing 1970s-era middle school, which was undersized and offered little flexibility for modern learning and instruction. In contrast, the new building is comfortably designed for a 1,000-student capacity. It also marks the second of a long-range, three-phase facility plan that consolidates grades 5-8 into one beautiful new building.

Eppstein Uhen Architects (EUA) served as the project’s designer and structural, plumbing and mechanical engineer, collaborating with construction manager and sustainability consultant Miron Construction Co. Inc. The team also included electrical engineer MSA and energy modeler and commissioning agent HGA. Eland Electric designed and installed the PV system, microgrid and battery back-up system.

New Learning Environments

In developing the project, Miron Construction and EUA worked closely with the district’s Vision Committee to evaluate multiple building and renovation scenarios. Together, the group decided to pursue new construction as the most practical and impactful solution for the district’s long-term space, flexibility and instructional needs.

Jackie Michaels, senior project manager with EUA, and several colleagues shadowed students in the existing school to understand how a new building could better meet their educational and environmental needs. The experience helped inform the new structure’s orientation to take better advantage of views to the nearby wetlands and further committed the EUA team to prioritizing open spaces and natural daylight.

The result is a dynamic and colorful new two-story structure with two wings that will form an exterior courtyard. The building’s broad, light-filled hallways and thoughtful use of the school’s signature Bluejay Blue hue throughout will create a home for students and educators for decades to come, without putting a strain on the environment or taxpayers.

“The building is fundamentally designed as two schools within one school building,” said Michaels. “There are separate office and administrative areas for the intermediate school and the middle school. Each school is then further broken down into smaller learning communities or neighborhoods.”

Each learning community has its own classrooms, lockers, restrooms, collaboration areas, student intervention and support areas, and staff resource areas as well as a flex café that serves as a cafeteria and multi- purpose space. Between the two separate schools is a two-story ‘central spine’ common area. Located off the spine are shared amenities such as the library, art and music rooms, Career and Technical Education areas, the gymnasium and the fitness center.

Meeting Sustainability Goals

Innovation also came into play in the construction process. Fitting all 2,747 solar photovoltaic panels onto the new building’s roof (while avoiding mechanical systems and vent stacks), maintaining the project schedule and working within a constrained footprint forced the team to get creative.

“The biggest challenge was building on the site of an active school and the logistics of working around the existing building,” said Ben Samolinski, project manager with Miron Construction.

“One of the longest items on the schedule is the drilling of the 160, 500-foot-deep geothermal wells, which took months,” added Steve Lenz, superintendent with Miron Construction. “For this project, a unique challenge was keeping a dry(ish) area for the well drillers to work whenever it rained.”

However, these challenges didn’t deter the project team or the Menasha Joint School District, which has become a leader in energy conservation. Over the past 10 years, the district’s commitment to sustainability has reduced its overall electrical load by more than one million kWh and 850 therms of natural gas—even as the district has added more than 80,000 square feet of facility space.

Maplewood School will exemplify this commitment. The project was awarded a $103,546 incentive from Focus on Energy and is anticipating receiving more than $3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit direct payment for the geothermal bore field and system, photovoltaic system, the 500-kW battery back-up system, microgrid and EV charging stations. While energy modeling anticipates that the project will consume 1.4 million kWh annually, the PV system will offset all energy consumption. This will save the district nearly $190,000 per year in utility bills (based on today’s energy prices) and millions over the life of the facility.

Interior Innovations

Sustainable values will also be reflected inside the building, which will offer hands-on environmental educational opportunities using the building itself as a teaching tool.

“For example, the geothermal mechanical room has glass walls so that the students can see the system working,” said Theresa Lehman, director of Sustainable Services for Miron Construction.

Interior material choices were also critical to ensuring an optimal learning environment. EUA, which joined the AIA 2030 Commitment, strives to reduce embodied and operational carbon to minimize greenhouse gas emissions during construction and throughout a building’s lifecycle. Additionally, in accordance with the AIA’s Materials Pledge, the firm selects products that prioritize health, social equality and environmental wellbeing. As such, the project utilizes multiple low- to zero-VOC materials, which do not trigger respiratory issues like asthma and allergies, while the air-handling system is designed to bring in more fresh air than is required by state code. The spacious design also incorporates non-flicker LED light fixtures to ensure even light levels, while special attention to daylighting and classroom acoustics creates a calming environment.

In developing Maplewood School, Miron and EUA also referenced benchmarking and standardized test scores from a previous joint school project and found that nearly every standardized test across every subject in every grade improved when intentional steps were taken to improve the indoor environment. Additionally, behavior improved, allergy and asthma medication administered by the school nurse declined by 75%, communicable diseases declined by 425% and absenteeism declined 15%.

“While we could not pinpoint the statistics to one particular thing, we believe these improvements are a result of the combination of natural daylight, classroom acoustics, increased indoor air quality, the lighting, the interior colors and the sit-stand furniture in addition to students and staff taking pride in their new school environment,” Lehman said.

Funding Sustainable Goals

The project team is well versed in delivering projects with high sustainability standards but understands that significant investments in green systems and design strategies can be intimidating at the outset.

Brian Adesso, Menasha Joint School District’s director of business services, encourages districts that are on the fence about sustainability projects to connect with other entities that have implemented similar technologies and getting facility management teams up to speed before committing to investments in energy- efficient equipment and renewable-energy technologies.

“Also, it’s imperative to understand your community (members) and their viewpoints,” Adesso said. “Being fiscally responsible is important to the taxpayers of Menasha, so we made sure we were being good fiscal stewards of taxpayer resources.”

Adesso also calls the project’s IRA funding “a game changer” when it comes to covering items that require upfront capital costs, such as the project’s geothermal bore field, EV charging stations, roof-mounted PV system, microgrid and battery storage system.

“When taking into account the IRA tax credit direct payment, the geothermal system was cost-neutral if not less expensive than a traditional code- compliant HVAC system,” Adesso said.

For the project team, the Maplewood School project is proof that a school can be healthy and high-performing as well as economically feasible.

“From a people perspective, the building occupants are healthier, happier and more productive,” added Lehman. “From an energy efficiency and renewable energy perspective, there are capital cost premiums, but there are also incentives available to reduce the capital costs, as well as impactful returns on the investments. It’s so important to look at lifecycle costs.”

Construction is expected to wrap up on the groundbreaking project in April before the new school welcomes its first students for the fall semester.

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Voters approved a $576.5 million bond issue in 2014 to fund the sustainable energy program, which will include five deep energy retrofits, five new construction projects and one re-commissioning retrofit. These energy-saving projects combined are projected to reduce the district’s utility costs by $307,000 annually, with a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and reduction in the district’s carbon footprint.

Last summer, Broomfield Heights Middle School in Broomfield became the first school to undergo McKinstry’s deep energy retrofit. The 107,750-square-foot, two-story building underwent improvement measures including building envelope upgrades, LED lighting upgrades and an entire mechanical system retrofit. A new HVAC system was installed, integrating chilled beams with heat recovery systems. McKinstry has since been implementing an energy management and verification phase to monitor the school’s energy performance against the project’s energy model. This phase will enable the project team to correct any irregularities that could impact performance, and will be the norm for any future school retrofits moving forward.

“These improvements will help move BVSD toward our goal of becoming a zero net energy district, will reduce our energy expenses, and will provide a healthier, more comfortable learning and working environment for all school occupants,” said Jeff Medwetz, BVSD project manager of energy systems. BVSD’s goal is to reduce the energy usage of each facility by half in order to reach net-zero levels.

BSVD is one of six school districts nationwide participating in the U.S. Energy Department’s (DOE) Better Buildings Zero Energy Schools Accelerator, aimed at helping net-zero schools go mainstream. Not only do net-zero schools use 65 to 80 percent less energy than conventionally built schools, according to the DOE — they also help to improve learning environments.

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The CU-ICAR campus is a 250-acre space focused on advanced-technology research. The campus provides opportunities for the university, industry and government organizations to collaborate. A master’s and Ph.D. program in automotive engineering is available at CU-ICAR as well through the College of Engineering and Science. The program conducts cutting edge research in key areas such as advanced product development strategies, sustainable mobility, intelligent manufacturing systems and advanced materials.

Five buildings are contained on the CU-ICAR campus; one received LEED Silver certification and three received LEED Gold. The Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center, which received LEED-NC Silver, has 90,000 gross square feet and a footprint of 49,000 square feet. The innovation Place & AutoPark, which received LEED-NC Gold, contains 20,000 square feet of occupied space and 1,200 parking spaces.

The Koyo Jtekt building received LEED-CS Pilot Project Gold and the Center for Emerging Technologies received LEED Gold. The CET as a whole contains 35,000 square feet of office space on two upper levels and 25,000 square feet of high-bay space for research labs.

The CET, located in the heart of the CU-ICAR campus, was designed by LS3P, an architecture, interior architecture and strategic visioning firm based in Greenville whose mission is to engage clients and communities and design meaningful places with transformative results. The general contractor for the project was Sherman Construction, a commercial contracting company providing services throughout South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

Construction on the project began in June 2010 and was completed in July 2011. The total cost of the project was $6.5 million. Green building practices were utilized during the construction process, qualifying the CET for its LEED Gold certification.

Carbon dioxide monitors throughout the building monitor air quality, while adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, composite wood products and carpets meet the standards set for low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Highly efficient HVAC units are used to cool and heat the building. Additional energy conservation efforts are evident in the high-efficiency bulbs used in the motion-sensitive interior light fixtures. The CET saves up to 14 percent of its energy usage with these efficient design elements.

The CU-ICAR campus also utilizes alternative transportation, including public transportation that brings individuals within a quarter mile of the CET. Shuttles bring commuters from the campus to the Clemson Area Transit System and the City of Greenville public transportation system.

Water efficiency is another key component of the CET’s sustainable design. The use of native plants reduces the need for irrigation. The facility’s restrooms use low flow fixtures and have occupancy sensors that help reduce water consumption by 40 percent.

The final element of the CET’s innovative design is its comprehensive recycling center. Designated areas for the collection, separation and storage of recyclables helps better allocate specific materials. The contracting team also kept recycling in mind during the construction process, resulting in 20 percent of the finished product stemming from recycled materials and 75 percent of the waste materials diverted from landfills and incineration facilities.
 

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