Energy + Architecture: K-12 Schools

CH A RLESTON COLUMBI A GREENVILLE MYRTLE BEACH ASHEVILLE CH A RLOT TE GREENSBORO RALEIGH WILMINGTON ATL ANTA SAVANN AH

LS3P

ENERGY + ARCHITECTURE: K-12 SCHOOLS SPRING 2022

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ECONOMICS

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CAMPUS SCALE APPROACH

Master Planning: K-12 Campus Scale

Ecology / Climate Carbon

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Plant deciduous trees south of buildings and outdoor spaces and evergreens to east and west.

Big Impact - Carbon is waste, and waste is money. Create a roadmap to carbon neutrality and put the district

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Add treed landscape buffers between buildings and asphalt to

on course for reducing risk, controlling

reduce radiant/convective heat

and reducing costs of operations, and

from dark paving onto building

creating learning environments that

walls.

neuroscience has proven benefit both students and faculty. The integrative

Drought, rising water costs, and

nature of a carbon neutrality plan

stressed aquifers: Use no potable water

requires an equally integrative team

for non-potable end uses. Create a

of architects, an ESCO, engineers,

campus-wide recycled water system

and utility partners. Even in urban

sourced from rainwater, sump/

areas, including a landscape planner/

groundwater, and showers. Eliminate

biologist is also recommended.

potable water for irrigation. Cost of municipal treated water is rising faster than the rate of inflation and expected to continue rising. Using well water

Resilience

stresses an overtaxed aquifer, often exacerbating seawater inundation near

Rising Temperatures: Reduce heat

the coast.

island effect Big Impact - Increase tree canopy. Target 50% deciduous tree

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Replace water-intensive plantings

cover especially if the school calendar

with natives that need no irrigation.

begins in August.

Assess whether existing plantings actually need irrigation.

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Replace a parking space with a tree well every 10-15 spaces.

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Limit irrigation to classroom food gardens and sports fields.

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Replace decorative plantings with native and/or edible plants throughout campus.

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CAMPUS SCALE APPROACH

Ecology / Climate Systems Thinking and Optimization

freeing up capital for building

Can those funds be better spent

efficiency measures? Is rooftop

on promoting other means of

available for solar thermal near a

transportation or carpooling?

Understand where and when energy

potential outlet for that heat such as

and water are flowing. Is most

a swimming pool or gym showers?

energy consumed during the months of August and September? This is common in the region and often a product of shifting academic calendars and building envelope vulnerabilities.

Which facilities have the highest

•

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transportation authorities for

Is there equipment operating at

discounted passes for students.

full capacity that might indicate the need for a deep energy retrofit

Partner with regional

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Proactively engage your regional

to avoid replacing or upsizing that

transportation authority to lobby

overburdened system?

for light rail or bus rapid transit directly to campus for middle

EUI (energy use intensity) and why?

and high schools. The impact

Always ask why and keep asking

Analyze classroom utilization. Is

why until the root of the problem is

classroom allocation optimizing all

identified. The answer isn’t always

available space? Is there underutilized

what we expect.

space in buildings adjacent to where

Take an inventory of mechanical

more is needed? Where two schools

for creation of bicycle/walking

equipment working at full capacity all

are located on the same campus, is

networks connecting all the

the way down to equipment hardly

there a building that can accommodate

schools in the district. Not only

used.

both schools for shared resources?

does this promote active living,

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Can you even out the distribution

Are automatic controls optimized to

but it reduces cost of parking, and

of service? Is there an underutilized

activate lights and HVAC primarily

serves as an economic driver for

chiller adjacent to a new building

when classrooms are scheduled?

the community. Consider applying

planned for construction? Can that

underestimated.

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Advocate in the community

for a “Safe Routes to Schools” grant from the US Department

chiller be leveraged for the new building and offset costs while

of this, if successful, is not to be

Calculate the fully burdened cost of

of Transportation. https://www.

parking on high school campuses.

transportation.gov/mission/health/ Safe-Routes-to-School-Programs

CAMPUS SCALE APPROACH

Images top to bottom: Center for Advanced Studies at Wando High School - Mount Pleasant, SC // North Ridge Elementary School - Raleigh, NC

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WELL Buildings – focuses on health, toxins, and air quality.https:// www.wellcertified.com

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Fitwel Building Designation – design for active living, it now applies to many building types, communities, and campuses. https://www.fitwel.org/standard/

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Blue Zone communities – transforming towns across the US. Partner with the Blue Zone organization, or collaborate with a nearby university in an ongoing student project. https://www. bluezones.com/blue-zones-activate/

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Living Building Challenge – this designation helps buildings/ communities/campuses function as an ecosystem, providing resilient, beautiful, and healthy environments to live and work. https://livingfuture.org/lcc/

Big Impact - Master plan for low tech

Ongoing renewable energy

sustainability/resilience solutions.

sources reduce ongoing energy

Building orientation, surface

costs, offer compelling return on

permeability, vegetative cover, ground

investment, and provide more

source loops, natural stormwater

reliable emergency power for longer

management, and access to alternative

periods.

transportation are often only established at master plan intervals and save on cost of infrastructure and operations in perpetuity. Do not miss this opportunity to set the stage for an operationally efficient school district.

For multi-building campuses, transition to a micro-grid for autonomous power and benefit economically from strategic partnerships with local utilities and renewable energy sell back during summer months. The cost of grid electricity has risen 6% annually for the past ten years, and natural gas has risen 21% just this year. Utility price volatility is one of your greatest financial risks, and energy autonomy turns the school into a powerful asset in the face of unexpected community need.

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Offset ongoing base load energy with onsite renewables and

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Transition to ground source heat pump infrastructure. Continuous coil network under sports fields and previously disturbed areas can provide enough thermal energy for at least pre-heating/cooling even in extreme climates. Make sure to include long term commitment to geothermal fields in master planning.

Photovoltaic systems have now reached grid parity in many states.

With a 7-8 year payback (after incentives) and grid energy costs rising 5-8% every year, on-site solar has never been less expensive and is dropping approximately 7% every year.

Institutional and non-profit owners have purchase/lease options to share in those savings. In some states, solar tax credits can be sold to investors who pass along a percentage of the savings to the school.

leverage those same systems for emergency power generation.

Diesel generators have as high as a

Solar thermal panels can provide

17% failure rate during emergencies

water temperatures near boiling.

and offer limited use duration

This is the least expensive form of

based on fuel availability. Natural

solar energy and can be leveraged for

gas generators require considerable

in-floor heat, year-round swimming

maintenance and inspection.

pools, gym showers, laundry facilities, and more.

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Set informed and specific energy targets in the RFP. Put a high performance energy goal in RFPs and ask respondents

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EUI or less - commonly achievable

to show experience achieving

within budget.

a specific level of performance.

Include desired approaches and metrics: •

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type. Right now, the EUI target for

Building pressure testing, goal of

K-12 schools is 15 kBtu/SF, falling to 7.5 kBtu/SF in 2025, and zero in

– critical in hot-humid climates

2030. This includes credit for on-

(a.k.a. the Southeast)

site renewable energy. If your state or county has committed to the

Increased daylighting with metrics

Paris Climate Commitment, this is

of <10% ASE (glare) and >55% sDA

your target.

(balanced daylighting) •

Increased outside air to classrooms

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portfolio data. What is the average

“pandemic mode”

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Build a school better than your best building. Reference your own

linked to CO2 levels – switchable to

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Architecture 2030 provides energy performance targets by building

<.25 cfm/sf of envelope leakage

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Many RFPs for schools ask for a 25

EUI for each school type? What is

High performance kitchen design

the best EUI? Set an energy target

– an opportunity to rethink healthy

5-10% better than the best school in

food choices

the district.

Zero energy design or zero energy ready design

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Calculate an energy budget from the maximum available solar energy on the roof area. This is a valid target for any building type, especially schools. K-12 schools are one of the easiest building types to power entirely through solar photovoltaics.

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Big Impact - In an integrative district

audit in each school and measure

workshop, craft a comprehensive and

improvement.

robust Owners Project Requirements (OPR) for use in all renovations and

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Reflectance Value (LRV) of paint

energy.

practice, the use of a district wide OPR •

Regardless of whether in daylight or artificially lit spaces, Light

should already be measuring this

new construction projects. As a best has emerged as a key tool for effective

Lighting. This is a no-brainer. We

Reflective wall colors

matters to energy efficiency and well-being. Refer to WELL Building

Water heating loads. Install

standard Feature 59, Surface Design

project management and consistent

8-minute timers on hot water for

results for any institution. The

showers.

for reflectivity guidelines that

Irrigation. Eliminate all but

student performance, and reinforce

classroom food garden and

circadian rhythm.

document should state the district’s vision, the purpose of the project, and

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goals for sustainability, resilience,

sports field irrigation, but it’s still

social equity, security, programming

important to know how much

needs, proprietary systems, district-

we set ourselves up for success with

the big picture vision is met within conventional budget limits.

spaces, they could be adversely

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cancellations.

impacting information retention

Waste. Do a comprehensive

high energy students are a problem,

waste audit to understand the

explore “calming corners” with soft

composition of district waste –

furniture, a rug, and potentially

landfill and recycling. Turn it into

an indoor tree canopy to enclose

a geography or math exercise!

the space and provide a soothing

Measure volume/weight and track

biophilic connection for students.

and mental health of students. If

it. Assign a cost per cubic foot or A good architect can facilitate this

the neurological impact of dark

maintenance and field activity

carbon emissions, the OPR is where

planning is the only way to assure

necessary. Without understand

over-saturation. Reduces system

or district has committed to reducing

Restrict teachers from personalizing room colors if

controls for rain-skips to avoid

funding, training, and more. If the state

bold achievable goals during project

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we use. Commission irrigation

wide infrastructure, documentation for

the most economical returns. Setting

mitigate vision fatigue, improve

pound and track costs

Daylighting strategies

exercise and provide knowledgeable

Roll out planned deep energy retrofits

Any space that can be artificially lit

guidance on purpose and strategy of

corresponding to capital projects

can be naturally lit if the building

each OPR section.

and expenditures forecasting. Deep

geometry is right.

energy retrofits should piggyback •

onto building renovation capital Big Impact - Measure consumption by building/floor when possible.

We cannot manage what we do not measure.

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Plug loads. This is controllable consumption. Do a plug load

Move perimeter offices to the

projects as building aesthetics or

interior core and allow daylight to

program areas are updated. These are

penetrate fully into the space.

huge opportunities for whole system efficiencies. Rather than simply

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colored to optimize daylighting and

exhausting “low hanging fruit” such as

avoid vision fatigue.

lighting replacements, an architect can add significant value through…

Interior furnishing should be light

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Consider daylight tubes through the center of a building. Concentrated solar tubes can provide daylight 40’ below the roof surface and extend as much as 15’ horizontally.

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becomes a notable feature that can update an architecturally nondescript building. If shade structures are also photovoltaic, they can reduce ongoing utility costs significantly.

Vegetated roofs •

Vegetated roofs create a cool cushion above its most exposed surface, often measuring as much

Update A/V to 65” flat screen monitors

as 60 degrees cooler than adjacent

that allow visibility with blinds open

buildings with medium grey roofs.

and maximum daylight for higher student performance and retention.

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Don’t look to vegetated roofs for thermal insulation. That’s not a factor. You must still insulate the roof.

Reconfigure the “lighting landscape” •

Breaking out lighting into

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of stormwater, reducing the need for

ambient, feature, and task

stormwater retention capacity on

allows for responsive controls

site. Because of the weight, check

for presentations and provides

with a structural engineer for live

significant savings.

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(stormwater) loads on existing roof structure. Some modular vegetated

Add inexpensive lighting controls

systems can be installed by grounds

that respond to daylight and

staff once the roof is prepared.

motion.

Light shelves •

Bounce daylight further into the building without glare

Vegetated roofs slow down the flow

Rethink the kitchen. According to our CMTA engineers, the kitchen in a typical school contributes 5-7 EUI to overall building energy consumption.

By incorporating energy conservation strategies in the kitchen, the energy can be reduced through careful design

Exterior shading devices

and equipment selection.

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Exterior shading is shown to

Reduce energy by revisiting policies

reduce heat gain by 50% if designed

and menu selections that contribute

properly for orientation. This

to energy consumption.

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