As administrators develop plans for students to return to school, the safe operation of a building is at the center of this discussion. Decision makers face tough questions around steps they can take to accommodate social distancing requirements and reduce the spread of airborne illnesses such as COVID-19. How will school facilities continue to promote educational success and contribute to overall student, teacher and staff wellness, while recognizing that classroom instruction may never be the same? Moreover, with many school districts facing steep declines in revenue, administrators want to understand how new sanitation and social distancing requirements will impact budgets.

These are all great questions, especially since many buildings have been shut down or operating in a limited capacity for several months now. Staff will need to inspect mechanical, temperature and water systems before occupants are cleared to safely return. Systems not placed back in a mode that meets initial design intent may be at risk of equipment failure, false system reporting, indoor air quality (IAQ) issues or increased maintenance costs.

The Importance of IAQ In Schools

IAQ standards typically involve systems that impact indoor air temperature and humidity, filtration, and building pressure. IAQ will remain a hot topic – and for good reason. If a school is perceived as unhealthy or unsafe, fear will creep in and confidence in the decisions made to protect students, teachers and staff can deteriorate quickly.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently reported that “ventilation and filtration provided by heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems can reduce the airborne concentration of SARS-CoV-2 and thus the risk of transmission through the air.” School districts should prioritize the regular cleaning and replacement of media filters. While clogged filters will not promote the spread of viruses, they will compromise IAQ, shorten the life of the ventilation system over time, and decrease system performance.

School facility teams should get in the habit of documenting filter changes, both in writing and with pictures. Filters with a minimum MERV 8 rating should be used; however, those with MERV 17 ratings or higher will remove at least 99.97% of all particles less than .03 mm in diameter (which can include airborne viruses).

Mechanical Systems

Mechanical systems consist of condenser coils, evaporators, pumps, fan motors, and outdoor air and return dampers, to name just a few. Prior to turning on mechanical systems, a visual inspection is necessary to identify equipment that requires cleaning or repair. An assessment can also help to surface any blocked vents, troubling noises, vibrations or odors that require further diagnosis; however, some equipment may require a more focused eye. For example, look for leakage and cross contamination on heat recovery wheels. In addition, drain pans and condensate drains should be clear from obstruction and standing water, while cooling towers and loops should receive chemical treatment as required.

We recommend implementing strategies that limit moisture accumulation and the potential for mold growth that can result from any water filtration of condensation within buildings. Balance is needed to limit the growth of pathogens and maintain relative humidity levels conducive to occupant health and well-being.

Temperature Controls

After assessing mechanical systems, the evaluation of temperature controls and control strategies can drive efficiencies, reduce maintenance requirements, and decrease operating costs. Repair or replacement of old or non-functioning temperature controls, whether pneumatic, electric or digital, is often one of the most impactful changes a facility can make.

In preparation for the first day back at school, teams should evaluate temporary temperature and humidity setpoints against future application needs. Schools with air handling units should ensure controls are programmed to have a 100% outside air flush strategy prior to occupancy. Operable windows can complement this effort and increase the outdoor air flow. It will be important to incorporate this variable without sacrificing occupant comfort but still addressing concerns about airborne illnesses. Schools with unit ventilators and simple controls can manually flush the system over time.

Other control schedules should also be considered, such as disabling demand control strategies and keeping outside air dampers open 24/7 at minimum speed. In addition, economizers can be used to control the regular change of air in the building.

Water Systems

Finally, one area that is often overlooked – but just as critical to safely reopening a school – is the building’s water system (potable, non-potable, cooling towers, evaporative HVAC equipment). Most building operators aren’t accustomed to dealing with health risks from these systems. However, in school buildings that have had low or no use for extended periods of time, there is significant risk of bacteria such as legionella building up. This build-up puts students, teachers and staff at risk of exposure to Pontiac Fever, an acute nonfatal respiratory disease, or Legionnaires Disease, a type of pneumonia caused by inhaling bacteria from water – and the deadliest waterborne disease in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidance advising building operators to test water before occupants return – and to have a plan in place to test and maintain water quality. Time and temperature are natural enemies to chlorine levels in water that keep bacteria from blooming. In an overabundance of caution, the CDC also recommends that building operators take the step of flushing the system to ensure the bacteria, biofilm build-up and stagnant water is removed, and chlorine levels are appropriate to keep blooms from developing.

The Time is Now

While schools sit vacant and administrators weigh decisions for the next school year, the time is right to ensure buildings and systems are ready for safe, sustainable operation and focused on the well-being of students, teachers and staff. Providing a safe and healthy learning environment is paramount, and reopening schools will require focus, adherence to specific procedures, and expertise to establish the right strategy for each system and piece of equipment.

Leslie Larocque is Vice President, Energy & Technical Services – Mountain Regions for McKinstry, where her responsibilities include managing the strategic direction, market growth and delivery of McKinstry’s offerings in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. She has been providing energy and environmental solutions to both public and private sector customers throughout the U.S. and internationally since 1991.

The post Reopening School Facilities with Confidence appeared first on School Construction News.

EVERETT, Wash. — Washington State University North Puget Sound at Everett recently completed the new Everett University Center. The new academic building will serve as an engineering and STEM facility, and is seeking LEED Gold certification.

SRG Partnership was the architect on the project, with Hoffman Construction serving as the general contractor; both companies have offices in Seattle. McKinstry (also of Seattle) was the engineering firm on the project and was responsible for implementing the energy and water conservation measures into the 95,000-square-foot facility. The project had a budget of $65 million, and the building was completed in May 2017 after three years of construction.

With many of the degree programs at this campus focused on engineering and STEM, it was important for that to be reflected in the buildings standards. The facility is equipped with a living laboratory that will provide a real-world learning environment, giving students in the region the skills they need to compete in local and global economies.

The Innovation Forum is the heart of the building as a four-story atrium that links major entry points for students and provides access to the full range of activities within.The Forum also serves as a pre-function space and a gathering place for university and community events.

“Like an interior street, the Forum is fronted by key student support elements with multiple ‘storefronts’ for student services, a tiered lecture hall, a media-rich classroom and the Capstone Studio — an upper-division lab providing students and industry partners a place for invention and innovation,” said Tim Richey, project lead and senior associate at SRG Partnership. 

In total, there are 13 classrooms and nine engineering labs. To the west of the Forum, faculty offices and conference rooms surround a central, light-filled triangular atrium, which provides a place for faculty interaction.

The design team sought to set a high standard for energy performance with the design of the new Everett University Center, and it will now serve as a baseline for future campus development, according to Richey. The thermal envelope far exceeds the state energy code standards, using a rain-screen façade of brick and a metal panel with R-35 insulation and thermally broken cladding supports. A full-building air leakage test revealed a combined average of 0.217 cfm/ft2 at 75 Pa, which is 45 percent better than the Washington State Energy Code, according to Richey.  

Additionally, a low-energy VRF system conditions the classroom and faculty wings. The central Innovation Forum of the facility incorporates mechanically operable windows and louvers, providing fresh air ventilation and natural cooling. During winter months, heat energy is harvested from the building’s data center and reused in the Forum’s hydronic radiant floor. A 75 kW array of photovoltaic panels at the roof is dramatically exposed as the building’s cornice, cantilevering beyond the south façade.

Below the Capstone Studio is a 20,000-gallon cistern that captures rainwater and repurposes it for 100 percent of the toilet and urinal flushing demand between September and June, diverting the surplus to site irrigation. The new facility also boasts a complete LED lighting package. The LEED certification application for the facility is still in process, with certification expected for sometime in 2018.

“One of the unique aspects of the new Washington State University Center is that it’s the first building of what promises to be an extensive branch campus in the future,” said Richey. “Rather than comparing it to projects that have been completed in the past, this building is setting the standard in design character and performance for future campus development that is sure to follow.”

The post Living Laboratory Helps Washington State’s New Everett University Center Shine appeared first on School Construction News.

CCSD hired McKinstry in May of 2016 to perform a district-wide audit of all school facilities to look for energy-saving measures. This audit, paid for by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy (GOE) Performance Contract Audit Assistance Program, identified potential improvements that would save the district in utility and operational costs. The planned improvements will allow for more even heating and cooling of classrooms, improvement of overall ventilation, improved light quality and better functioning of equipment with fewer repairs. Among the targeted improvements is the replacement of existing light bulbs with LED technology.

The CCSD operations department is currently tasked with changing nearly every bulb in the district to energy-efficient LED lighting — part of a $6 million undertaking financed through McKinstry, according to Mark Korinek, CCSD operations director, in a recent interview with CarsonNow.org. “The energy side is over $2 million of LED light retrofit at every school in the district,” said Korinek.

The district’s LED upgrade is expected to save 1.4 million kilowatt hours after about 26,000 new bulbs are installed. In addition to updating all light fixtures, the district’s improvements will include water conservation measures meant to reduce waste and usage. McKinstry has estimated that about 4.5 million gallons of water will be saved with the planned upgrades. Additionally, three elementary schools will be receiving trash compactors to help reduce the volume of garbage.

These upgrades are part of a series of improvements that the school has made over the years to improve on energy expenditures and to currently have the lowest energy expenditures of any other public school district in the state, according to The Nevada Department of Education. The school’s current energy-usage rating as measured by the energy usage index (EUI) is 46. The school intends to lower that rating into the thirties, which is “almost unheard of,” according to Korinek.

The post Carson City School District Partners with McKinstry on Energy Improvements appeared first on School Construction News.

Voters approved a $576.5 million bond issue in 2014 to fund the sustainable energy program, which will include five deep energy retrofits, five new construction projects and one re-commissioning retrofit. These energy-saving projects combined are projected to reduce the district’s utility costs by $307,000 annually, with a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and reduction in the district’s carbon footprint.

Last summer, Broomfield Heights Middle School in Broomfield became the first school to undergo McKinstry’s deep energy retrofit. The 107,750-square-foot, two-story building underwent improvement measures including building envelope upgrades, LED lighting upgrades and an entire mechanical system retrofit. A new HVAC system was installed, integrating chilled beams with heat recovery systems. McKinstry has since been implementing an energy management and verification phase to monitor the school’s energy performance against the project’s energy model. This phase will enable the project team to correct any irregularities that could impact performance, and will be the norm for any future school retrofits moving forward.

“These improvements will help move BVSD toward our goal of becoming a zero net energy district, will reduce our energy expenses, and will provide a healthier, more comfortable learning and working environment for all school occupants,” said Jeff Medwetz, BVSD project manager of energy systems. BVSD’s goal is to reduce the energy usage of each facility by half in order to reach net-zero levels.

BSVD is one of six school districts nationwide participating in the U.S. Energy Department’s (DOE) Better Buildings Zero Energy Schools Accelerator, aimed at helping net-zero schools go mainstream. Not only do net-zero schools use 65 to 80 percent less energy than conventionally built schools, according to the DOE — they also help to improve learning environments.

The post Boulder Valley School District Pursues Net-Zero Energy Consumption appeared first on School Construction News.

Butte High School partnered with McKinstry — a national firm that specializes in designing, constructing, operating and managing high-performance buildings — to complete the phased project. The firm’s Missoula- and Bozeman, Mont.-based offices audited, re-designed and modernized the high school’s building systems, and work was completed this month, according to a statement by the firm.

The final round of work entailed replacing the entire heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system within Butte High School’s 56,723-square-foot annex and administrative offices with a new variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system, and revising and replacing heating control valves to allow the high school more precise control over heating and cooling.

The school will enjoy added energy savings with the installation of heat recovery units that can simultaneously heat and cool different zones of the annex depending on need, according to a statement by McKinstry. Students, teachers and staff using the school’s counseling and attendance office will benefit from improved thermal comfort year-round.

“These improvements not only help Butte School District stretch its energy dollars, but will provide a healthier, more comfortable learning and working environment for all school occupants,” said Daniel McGee, account executive at McKinstry, in a statement.

Butte High School principal John Metz added in a statement that the school is “proud to provide such efficient and cost-effective solutions.”

Energy and utility costs generally account for 20 to 40 percent of a school’s maintenance and operations budget, and can be much higher if equipment is beyond its useful life. In a statement, McKinstry referred to a recent USGBC report showing factors such as thermal comfort “affect the stress levels, health and well-being of occupants in schools,” and can influence student achievement.

“Prior to modernizing the school’s building systems, two neighboring classrooms could experience a temperature difference of 20 degrees or more. Now, we’re keeping classrooms heated and cooled consistently as needed, while circulating a healthy level of fresh air,” said Jed Hoopes, head of maintenance for the Butte School District, in a statement.

Butte School District and McKinstry first partnered in 2009 on an energy audit of Butte High School, which led to state grant and district funding for replacing the 1960s-era boiler plant in the annex building and the installation of digital energy controls in the four-story academic building, completed between 2010 and 2012. In 2013, energy and operational savings from previous projects were leveraged to build out additional administration space in the annex.

The post Butte High School Completes Multi-phase Energy Retrofit appeared first on School Construction News.