AUSTIN, Texas—The recently completed $28 million Menchaca Elementary School for the Austin Independent School District is a design-build project that has replaced an existing campus in a growing area of south Austin.

The 98,600-square-foot campus was originally conceived as a single building with interior circulation, but the design evolved through an extensive process that engaged teachers, parents and students. LPA Inc. was the architect on this impressive project. Joeris General Contractors was the general contractor.

The design features a collection of three buildings with shaded outdoor collaboration spaces designed around the existing heritage oak trees. The buildings form two courtyards linked by a second-story bridge that houses an innovative library media center and makerspaces specifically designed for the school. More than 30 percent of the site is open, vegetated space, creating direct links between the outdoors and learning environments.

With a build-out capacity of 870 students—this will account for the growth of this diverse city and the evolution of the District’s Strategic Plan. The entire process went from programming to permitting in six months.

Sustainability and energy efficiency were incorporated into every aspect of the design. Indoor water usage was cut by 30 percent and the overall energy use was reduced by 20 percent, primarily through passive measures such as building orientation, shading and strategic use of natural light. The campus is designed to meet LEED Silver certification, including a commitment to air quality and overall wellness for the students and faculty.

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Over the past 20 years or so, green and sustainable construction has evolved from what many called a fringe movement to one that has definitely achieved mainstream status. Reducing energy and water usage remains the top environmental issue driving all types of construction—including school projects

Now, we are hearing much more about net-zero energy construction. Exactly, what is this and how does it differ from green and sustainable construction?

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), creators of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, follows a widely accepted definition of green building—the planning, design, construction and operations of buildings and spaces with a focus on the following considerations—water and energy use, indoor environmental quality, material selection, and the building’s effects on its site.

By this definition, designing, constructing and operating buildings for energy efficiency is integral to green building. Similarly, net-zero energy or net-positive energy design and construction strategies are often incorporated into green building projects. A net-zero energy building is generally defined as a building that produces at least as much energy as it uses.

“Green building starts with the understanding that buildings have profound impacts on the natural environment, as well as the people who interact with them every day,” said Anisa Heming, director for the Center for Green Schools at USGBC.

“LEED offers projects a sustainable approach to construction because it considers the building’s future impacts on the planet and on people.”

LEED, a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement, provides a framework to create healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings. According to USGBC, there are more than 2,300 LEED-certified schools globally, and another 2,200 that have started the process.

Perkins and Will is a global architecture firm with offices across the U.S. and international locations, including Dubai and London. Formed in 1935, the company has designed many education projects.

“Energy efficient construction can mean a lot of different things, depending on the building or the system being designed,” explained Alison Binford, senior project manager, associate at the Austin studio of Perkins and Will.

“It generally includes reducing energy consumption and minimizing reliance on the electrical grid or fossil fuels. This can be achieved through building orientation to minimize heat gain, use of efficient HVAC equipment, providing or tying into renewable energy sources (wind turbines, solar panels), and technologically advanced building system controls, amongst many other things.”

Angela Whitaker-Williams, Austin practice leader, principal at Perkins and Will said that a true energy-efficient building goes well beyond efficient air conditioning systems.

“The design approach must consider energy savings in every aspect of the building—from the way the users arrive (access to mass transit), to systems that increase or decrease energy use (lighting, HVAC, insulation), to the resources used in the building (water, lighting, consumables), and to the durability of building materials. Thinking holistically about energy reduction goes down to considering the embodied energy of how building materials are manufactured and transported. Thinking about all levels of energy required to make and use a building gives us as designers opportunities to make decisions to reduce overall energy use.”

Over the past number of years, Perkins and Will has seen a significant growth in the number of school clients focusing on energy consumption of their buildings.

“According to the U.S. Department of Energy, electric lighting in buildings consume, approximately 15% of all energy generated in the United States,” said Whitaker-Williams. “We can reduce that energy usage on artificial lighting by designing with daylighting strategies.”

This study also found that at the student level, daylighting improves student performance by an estimated 20% in math and 26% in reading. Daylight enhances health by enhancing vitamin D, mental performance, and awareness of circadian rhythms.

“In designing for daylighting, there is a careful balance of letting in the light without increasing the solar heat load on the air conditioning system,” continued Whitaker-Williams. “We use a balance of expanses of high-performance glass and shading devices”

Additionally, she said at the school district level, energy efficient building design can make excellent use of taxpayer investment as it stretches limited maintenance and operational funds. Many schools have a lifespan of 50-plus years, so designing to save 10% to 15% of the energy bills can add up to substantial savings.

At the global level, energy-efficient design limits damage to the ecosystem, reduces greenhouse gases, carbon footprint, and global warming.

One project Perkins and Will is especially proud of is the Eastside Early College High School and International High School project in Austin, Texas. With a major focus on energy-efficient design, the school is a STEM early college program focused on health, fitness and environmental science.

“Our early goals on the project was to reduce energy and use the building as a learning tool for students to easily see and understand the strategies such as looking at the variability of shading forms based on solar orientation,” explained Whitaker-Williams.

“We used the Energy Performance Calculator based on ISO Standard 13790, which is a normative tool developed by the High-Performance Buildings Laboratory of the Georgia Institute of Technology. This drove our design decisions from exterior building forms, fenestrations, daylighting, glare and building systems selections.”

For the $80-million Eastside School project, Perkins and Will team conducted computer modelling studies early in the design process to determine the most efficient strategy for building elements.

“The large overhangs at the perimeter glass were designed as a direct result of the envelope parametric analysis, which informed the exact dimensions that would maximize the shading of the glass, reducing the heat-gain, while still optimizing daylight and views for the interior spaces. This computer modeling, in addition to full energy modeling, drove the design and reduced costs for our air conditioning, as well as lighting systems,” said Binford.

Matt Wolkow is vice president of operations and engineering at Schneider Electric, which has locations throughout the United States. Schneider Electric implements capital recovery and reinvestment projects to help K12 school districts and other public entities modernize facilities, drive sustainability efforts and reduce energy consumption to achieve their vision. The company develops connected technologies and solutions to manage energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable.

“Schools are facing shrinking budgets, rising public interest in sustainability, and limited resources for making energy saving investments,” explained Wolkow.

“We’ve worked with schools across the country that have been struggling with deferred maintenance and limited maintenance staffs to modernize their infrastructures for a lower cost through energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs)—a financial model that has been growing rapidly in popularity. It is a contracting vehicle that helps schools fund overall infrastructure improvement plans by capturing energy savings and, therefore, energy efficiency.”

Over the past 25 years, Schneider Electric has implemented more than 750 ESPC projects across the nation, saving clients nearly $2.5 billion.

Editor’s note: This story is an abridged version of a feature that appeared in the July/August issue of School Construction News.

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AUSTIN, Texas—Recently released renderings of the new $80 million Eastside Memorial Early College High School and International High School in Austin, Texas show the strong intention to honor and preserve the of L.C. Anderson High School, which previously occupied the site and served as an important community center in the area for decades.

In 2017, architecture firm Perkins and Will was chosen to design the project by the Austin Independent School Board. The district’s first ground-up school to be built in nearly two decades, it will be located at 900 Thompson Street on grounds that are part of what was the last campus of L.C. Anderson High School, the segregation-era African American school that was a source of neighborhood pride and community.

L.C. Anderson High School had at least three different locations in the area before closing in 1971, when integration of public schools was federally mandated.

The new Eastside Memorial Early College High School and International High School—which was approved by Austin voters as part of the Austin ISD 2017 Bond program—will highlight the original L.C. Anderson High School’s rich history by honoring the past and providing students with pathways to the future through a strong vision of academic excellence, multiculturalism and community connectivity.

“The comprehensive facility will offer a STEM-focused curriculum featuring health science and environmental science, and will provide specialized education for students who are new to the country and have little to no proficiency in English,” said Angela Whitaker-Williams, Austin Practice Leader, Principal, at Perkins and Will.

The new, four-story portion of the building will feature technologically equipped learning spaces, as well as student-focused classrooms, two gymnasiums, and a premiere health science lab. The team also plans to build on the school’s multiple outdoor spaces with a large, multi-use classroom courtyard that includes dining areas, a stage, reflection areas and sensory gardens.

To capture the legacy of this important community hub and source of neighborhood pride, substantial elements of the original structure will be reconstructed and incorporated in the design scheme for the new school.

Reconstructed areas will reuse the salvaged red brick and original 1950s modern forms. The entrance to the former location of the gym will become a new community center entrance with a gallery that tells the histories of L.C. Anderson High School to future generations.

“This branded gallery will include a timeline of the former school’s history, legacy medallions and display cabinets for objects of historic significance,” said Whitaker-Williams.

“To distinguish itself in the present—while relating to the past—similar horizontal proportions and modern lines are achieved by using predominantly metal and glass building materials. The success stories of today’s students will be told in the entry hall on an ever-changing digital display, in the display cases of victory trophies and in a timeline of the story of Eastside and International in the main hall. The modernized Eastside Memorial ECHS and International High School at the Original L.C. Anderson campus is where legacy meets the future.”

Aiming for LEED Silver Certification, Perkins and Will designed the space as a learning lab of environmental science featuring rain gardens and overhangs calculated for daylight and heat gain reductions.

“This design will work to minimize the facility’s carbon footprint within the community by making use of passive heating and cooling with strategic design elements, using natural daylighting, optimizing mechanical systems, reducing water usage within the building and on-site, and capitalizing on its proximity to public transportation and bicycle routes,” she explained.

“The original facility had serious structural issues, so we aimed to preserve original materials and rebuild parts of the building, including its original, mid-century entrance, band hall, choir room, and one classroom wing,” Whitaker-Williams added.

The biggest design challenge on this was project was reconstructing the desired areas from the 1950s-era structure, while also serving Austin ISD’s very modern and innovative academic goals.

“The campus architectural team and the project’s community advisory committee included stakeholders from Eastside Memorial ECHS, International High School, original L.C. Anderson alumni, community members and students,” she said.

“This collaborative and diverse stakeholder process envisioned strategies to honor the past, the present and the future in order to respect the history of the site, serve the needs of current students, and prepare students for life beyond high school.”

The campus is directly across the street from the Austin Community College Eastview campus, which improves access for students working concurrently on their associate degree and high school diploma.

The completion date for the school is slated for summer 2021.

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