Buckley Elementary School
Manchester School District
Manchester, CT
COST: $26.4M
RENO: 55,000 sq. ft.
NEW: 9,000 sq. ft.
YEAR: 2022
EUI: 17.3
ORIENTATION
North-south
SOLAR
391kW photovoltaic array
Solar Smartflower
BUILDING SYSTEMS
Electric ground-source geothermal DOAS unit (dedicated outside air supply)
With a verified Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 17.3, Buckley Elementary School was a Renovated as New project and is the State of Connecticut’s first Net Zero Energy public school. Design focused on providing a tight envelope, high-performing building systems, and renewables such as photovoltaics and a geothermal wellfield. The project required 55,000 sq. ft. of renovation and a 9,000 sq. ft. expansion to allow for additional classrooms and specialized spaces for special education, art, music, and STEM. Buckley Elementary School will accommodate 400 students in grades K-4.
The design creates a prominent main entrance featuring a solar flower as a learning opportunity and highlight the school’s Zero Net Energy goal. The design takes advantage of the school’s existing energy-efficient features like the north-south facing windows and open space to create a geothermal well field along with new technologies like bipolar ionization.
All building envelope features, including walls, windows, and roof systems, were studied. The project included a whole building blower door pressure test and a thermal scan to validate the tightness of the construction. The goal was to have a wellinsulated building that exceeds code minimum requirements and is air/watertight. Enhanced roof insulation thickness and wall insulation systems are utilized. Glazing sections are optimized to balance energy consumption with daylighting of the learning environments.
Ventilation systems are designed to be code compliant. A dedicated outside air unit with an integral total energy recovery wheel for heat recovery is included to deliver filtered, preconditioned air throughout the building. It is decoupled from the geothermal heating/cooling units. Outside air is delivered directly from the dedicated outdoor air unit to the individual spaces to maximize effectiveness. Demand control ventilation strategies are implemented to regulate ventilation throughout the building based on occupancy and carbon dioxide levels.
Renovation projects can save 50 to 75% of the embodied carbon compared to new construction. In addition, the school uses no operational carbon as zero fossil fuels are used in the design. The heating/cooling system is all electric ground-source geothermal heat pump units. These high-efficiency units contain variablespeed fan motors and two-stage compressors. The geothermal wellfield consists of interconnected 500ft deep vertical bores piped to the building circulating loop. The geothermal wellfield also acts as a thermal battery for heat storage. This all-electric low EUI building offsets its electric use with on-site roof-mounted photovoltaics.
A high-level life cycle analysis was performed to compare three system options for the project, including first costs, energy costs, and maintenance costs. Emissions were also compared for the three options before the final selection.
Projected carbon footprint for Buckley Elementary School. A reuse & addition project releases less embodied carbon than a new building over the life of the building.
Source: Carbon Avoided Retrofit Estimator, caretool.org
OWNER REFERENCE
Manchester Public Schools
Christopher Till, Facilities Manager (860) 647-3145
DESIGNER REFERENCE
TSKP STUDIO
Randall Luther, AIA, Partner rluther@tskp.com
Michael C. Scott, AIA, WELL AP, Senior Associate mscott@tskp.com (860)547-1970
CMTA
Jess Farber, PE, WELL AP, Vice President jess@cmta.com
Ben Ben Kleine-Kracht, EIT, WELL AP Mechanical Design Engineer benkk@cmta.com
