Building Statistics: Part 1

General Building Data

• Building Name: Urban Public School

• Location: City

• Owned by the city

• Type: Elementary Education

• 103,000 sqft

• 3 stories

• 50' tall

• Project Team:

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• Dates of construction: January 5, 2015 - August of 2017

• Actual cost information: $29 Million

• Project delivery method: CM at Risk

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Architecture

The Primary goal of this design was to create a sense of pride for the students as well as a safe and secure environment for students, easy access for students and community, connectivity to the community. The Goal was to have the building fit into the urban contest by using similar materials from the surroundings. The building is comprised of mainly brick with metal panels utilized in selected areas. There are two brick colors that are used in selected areas that will be complementary to the color of bricks from the surrounding houses. The pattern of the bricks are placed in a way to reduce the apparent scale of the scholarly wing that is three stories. The scholarly wing is organized by the cluster concept which essentially means classrooms of similar grade levels are "clustered" together to create a sense of identity.  Additionally, the exterior spaces are similarly separated into play areas of each grade level or range. The school aims to produce a space of health bodies and minds. The outdoor impervious area is being reduced by 16 percent from the original area for play that was at the old school. The building will include a gymnasium, cafeteria, area for admin and support staff, a technology lab, visual arts studio, media center, music room, and community space.

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Applicable Codes

2015 International Building Code

2015 International Energy Conservation Code

2012 International Existing Building Code

International Green Construction Code

2015 International Mechanical Code

2015 International Plumbing Code

2012 International Property Maintenance Code

International Fire Code

International Fuel Gas Code

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Building Enclosure

The Elementary School has a rather plain façade. The Exterior walls are almost entirely made up of Brick on 8" CMU block. There small portions of storefront curtain wall systems along with a small portion of metal panels. There are punched openings for the windows on the building. The support for the façade is steel beams and columns which means the floors are concrete on metal deck.

The roof consists of a T.P.O. system. The roof is held up by steel beams and trusses with metal deck on top. There is a layer if rigid insulation over the metal deck which is then covered with the T.P.O. roofing membrane system.

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Sustainability Features

The Elementary School aims to get a LEED certification for the new building. The proposed rating will be a LEED Silver with 56/110 points which are being tracked in the following USGBC LEED categories: (SS) Sustainable Sites, (WE) Water Efficiency, (EA) Energy & Atmosphere, (MR) Materials & Resources, (IEQ) Indoor Environmental Quality. (ID) Innovation & Design. The flat roof of the scholarly wing provides the possibility for future installation of photovoltaics. This will allow for the continued effort to become more energy efficient when funds allow. The building has stringent requirements for the exterior R-Values to retain thermal efficiency.

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Building Statistics: Part 2

Demolition & Excavation

Prior to the construction of the urban public elementary school, there was an existing school located on the site. The school was located on the north side and was entirely demolished around April of 2016 making room for the site work to proceed. The site work consisted of about 4' - 6' of controlled lifts of select fill, as well as the new site utilities being put into place.  During this phase, a sediment pond was also put into place to control run-off until the new school is completed. The foundation for the new school were shallow concrete  spread footers and strip footers, not requiring much excavation but the foundation will be ground formed so the excavation needs  to be precise.

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Construction

Notice to proceed was given on January 5, 2016 at which time phase one, consisting of site work, began. Phase one lasted for almost three months with phase two starting just before completion of phase one. Phase two construction started in April of 2016 and is expected to last for 18 months, with punch list finishing just before school starts in August of 2017. Phase two construction consists of the complete construction of the new school starting with concrete foundations, working through the structural erection, until the interior work is started and flows through each section of the building to allow for the 2017 school year opening.

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Mechanical

The main source of air for the school is a dedicated outside air system. The classrooms and admin area is being supplied by 100% outside air, using a heat recovery wheel to help temper the air. Each of the classrooms will have their own VAVs supplying them. The system is a water air system with an outdoor chiller supplying cool air foe hot months and a boiler for the cooler months. There is also a roof top unit supplying the technology lab because RTUs decrease the amount of contaminants brought into the room. The technology lab will also require extensive cooing efforts. The remainder of the building will be supplied by AHUs.

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Structural

The elementary school’s structure is a fairly typical system consisting of concrete, masonry and steel. The structural system for the elevated floors of the classroom and media areas is a concrete slab over metal deck supported by steel beams and columns. Steel is being used because of its flexibility, ease of construction, and availability in the area at an affordable cost.

The gymnasium walls are load bearing CMU shear walls, which were constructed after the footers and piers were cured. These walls were constructed first to allow the roof joists of the gym to be supported.

Two key features of the structural system of this school are the braced frames and the composite floor system. The composite floor system allows the use of smaller members to support the floor weight by connecting the decking to the beams and girders using shear studs. The use of shear studs allow the concrete that is later placed on the decking to interact with the steel members as one unit as opposed to two separate systems.

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Electrical

The electrical service to the building will be 3000 amp, 480Y/277 volt, 3-phase, 4-wire to serve the needs of this school. There will be (40) 4” PVC conduits encased in concrete servicing the building, running from the transformer to the new switchboard. The main switchboard and the panels with main circuit breakers will be provided with copper bus bars and fully rated neutral and ground bus bars. In addition, all the panels serving the computer classrooms will have 100% rated, dedicated, isolated ground bus in addition to the ground bus and they will be fed with 200% rated neutral wire. Also, there will be an emergency generator to service the building in the event of a power outage.

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Lighting

A large amount of the new urban public school's light will be from day lighting while LEDs will be used as the primary source. Lighting will be primarily be recessed into ceilings where possible and selected areas will be supplemented with other special luminaries for specific tasks or to create visual elements in the space.  Luminaries in classrooms will have stepped dimming LED and 0-10V volt dimming drivers. Automatic day lighting controls will be provided in areas where required. Lighting controls in a typical classroom and similar instructional type spaces will consist of a relay-based lighting control system.