COLUMBIA, S.C.—Richland County School District One in Columbia, S.C. is implementing a district-wide comprehensive infrastructure modernization project that will see a savings of $28 million in energy costs over the next two decades.

Facing deferred maintenance on critical infrastructure in several buildings related to aged lighting and outdated HVAC equipment—and to provide healthier and safer learning environments—the school district is partnering with Schneider Electric to implement an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) that will reduce utility and operational costs by 24 percent across 15 district buildings.

Those savings will pay for further upgrades over time, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. As part of the program, Schneider Electric will partner with its local manufacturing facility within the district, employing more than 750 workers, to provide student learning opportunities and further partnerships to help the district.

“Providing a safe, healthy and enjoyable learning environment for our students and teachers is among our top priorities, especially now with new and changing regulations around indoor learning environments,” said Richland School District One Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon, in a statement.

“This program with Schneider Electric will allow us to make needed upgrades to our buildings in a much smarter, more efficient and, most importantly, fiscally responsible way.”

Part of the project aims to tackle indoor air quality by updating the HVAC equipment to efficiently move air, control temperature and increase outdoor air exchange rates. With indoor environment specifications being rolled out by government organizations, the district is laying the groundwork for better control of how air moves through all facilities and designing more specific and improved points of filtration. The changes will allow the district to be responsive to new regulations.

Added Raymond Perkins, Richland School District One Director of Facility Services, “These are upgrades being recommended to all school districts, but it can also be costly to do. We have many needs in addition to air quality, so finding a way to bring all these distinct pieces together made all the difference.”

Schneider Electric will implement modern technologies that will generate savings and, in turn, create a revenue stream to help fund improvements across the district, such as:

• updated HVAC technology for cleaner environments and to regulate fresh outdoor air;
• full district-wide telecommunications overhaul, improving district-wide emergency communications and providing flexibility for distance learning;
• interior and exterior lighting upgrades to bring emergency lighting up to current building code standards;
• replacement and upgrade of critical electrical infrastructure to reduce maintenance time and extend the life of the outdated system;
• upgrade and replacement of water and restroom fixtures to further reduce waste;
• installation of a “smart-plugs” network to manage high-load devices and improve energy efficiency, and;
• building envelope improvements to renew aging buildings to better withstand extreme seasonal weather patterns and increase comfort for students and staff.

“Our innovative solutions and transparent approach to energy infrastructure upgrades will provide tremendous savings for Richland County School District One,” said Justin Shutt, Schneider Electric Business Development Executive, in a statement.

“Plus, as a local employer, Schneider Electric is proud to be supporting the Richland County community by providing long-term cost savings to the school district and boosting the local economy with jobs that support the environment.”

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MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — After a race to the finish line, the Charleston County School District (CCSD) has recently opened the gates to its brand new $16.5 million stadium in Mount Pleasant. With the help of the District’s trusted construction management firm, Cumming, the new District Two Regional Stadium will provide the community a modern sports facility for years to come.

The District 2 Regional Stadium in Mt. Pleasant has a seating capacity of 6,000 — 4,000 for hometown fans and another 2,000 for visitors. The sports facility is situated on a 15-acre site and includes separate home and visitor restrooms, concession stands, team meeting rooms, a state-of-the-art press box and video score board.

The District 2 stadium in Mt. Pleasant will be used as the home stadium for both Wando High School and the new Lucy Beckham High School, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2020.

The stadium was funded by the local one-cent Charleston County sales tax, which is currently projected to generate more than $650 million by 2022.

The design-build team of Hill Construction and McMillan Pazdan Smith worked a very aggressive seven-day-a-week schedule to construct the new District 2 stadium.

Experts in educational project and cost management, Cumming’s South Carolina team has provided construction management services on behalf of CCSD for multiple building programs. Cumming oversees the District’s critical construction and renovation projects to make sure the programs stay within budget and adhere to the established timelines.

“It was our job to make sure that the stadium was successfully completed and ready for the community and the District 2 athletes,” said Harold Lee, senior project manager at Cumming. “By utilizing the existing Wando High School site, we were able to take advantage of its existing parking and infrastructure facilities, which allowed us to complete a very aggressive seven-month schedule.”

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CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson University is currently in the midst of the largest campus development initiative in its history, implementing a facilities plan designed to help place it in the public eye among the best institutions of learning in America.

Students have not simply been spectators in the process but have rather been active participants in every stage. Faculty well-versed in construction science and management, civil engineering and the School of Architecture have capitalized on the construction boom by working campus projects into their curriculums, turning job sites into classrooms.

By teaming up with Clemson’s Facilities department and the general contractors of major projects like the new College of Business facility, professors have been able to offer students real-world, hands-on experiences with the construction process that could never be replicated in a traditional classroom.

“We have a perfect learning lab here,” said Paul Borick, senior project manager for Clemson Facilities, who organizes site tours and facilitates building-related learning opportunities for students and professors. “This is a great opportunity for students to see footings, concrete foundation walls, structural steel framing and the most modern equipment and construction methodologies in action — some students sat in on our early design meetings.

Construction of the nearly 180,000-square-foot College of Business facility is a prime example of these learning opportunities. Nestled into the hillside across from Bowman Field, the new home for business education at Clemson is quickly rising from the ground. When finished, it will nearly double the space available in historic Sirrine Hall, the college’s current home.

The project will feature two towers, North and South, connected on the ground and first floors by an expansive outdoor stairway and plaza, and by an interior hallway on the building’s ground floor. The majority of the North Tower will comprise classrooms and labs, while the four-story South Tower will primarily house faculty and staff offices and workspaces.

The new home for the College of Business is set to open in 2020 and will provide the Clemson community with a think tank environment, bringing students, faculty and industry together in a collaborative, inspiring space that is forward-thinking in its design and daily application. Business students will have the kind of attractive environment that compels them to work, engage, study, ask hard questions, challenge themselves and work together.

As the construction manager of record, DPR is charged with balancing the project’s scope, schedule and budget, and coordinating the subcontractor trades. DPR is teamed up with Greenville contractor Sherman Construction on the project. DPR and Sherman also built Clemson’s new 142,500-square-foot Football Operations Center, which opened last year.

Wendy York, dean of the College of Business, says the new building is a sign of the commitment university leadership has made to the future of business education at Clemson.

“This world-class learning facility will become a magnet for drawing quality students in pursuit of a business degree that will open doors for them,” said York. “And its location, in the heart of campus, will tell all who pass by that Clemson means business.”

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DARLINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — Darlington County School District (DCSD) recently broke ground on the first of three new elementary schools to be constructed in Darlington County.

The DCSD serves over 10,000 students in 23 schools; the district announced back in March that the new school will be built in Darlington on the site of the existing Cain Elementary School, while the other two schools will be located in Hartsville and Lamar.

District officials and the construction team extensively evaluated over 19 sites in Hartsville and eight sites in Lamar before selecting the final locations of the new schools. Lamar’s new school, which will combine Lamar Elementary School and Spaulding Elementary School, will be built on property directly across from the intersection of County Club Road and Lamar Highway. Hartsville’s new elementary school, which will combine Washington Street Elementary School and West Hartsville Elementary School, will be built on Bay Road between Bobo Newsom Highway and Westwinds Drive.

News & Press reports that the new Darlington-area elementary school will combine the student populations of Cain and Brunson-Dargan elementary schools, both of which are over 50 years old, and will be constructed on the current site of Cain Elementary.

The school board reportedly awarded an $18.3 million bid from Edcon Inc., based in Peak, S.C., which was the lowest of five bids submitted. Brownstone Construction group is currently serving as project manager. The Darlington school’s bid is reportedly the first to come before the board. It is also the only one of the three elementary schools to be built on property already owned by the district.

The three schools in Darlington, Hartsville and Lamar will be built simultaneously, according to the News & Press, with the expectation that construction will begin at Cain in September.

According to News 13, the district’s new superintendent says the new school will be built with student safety in mind.

“It shows commitment from the board for Darlington County School District, commitment to the kids and to the communities about progress, so for a new superintendent walking in the door you couldn’t ask for much better than to be able to build new schools for our kids,” said Dr. Tim Newman, DCSD superintendent, to News 13.

Reports from News 13 and News & Press contributed to this story.

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