Silicon Valley School Integrates Sustainable Modular Classrooms

SAN MARTIN, Calif. — San Martin/Gwinn Elementary School in San Martin, located in California’s Silicon Valley and part of the Morgan Hill Unified School District, recently installed the nation’s first and only prefabricated classroom to be pre-verified by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS). School leaders collaborated with American Modular Systems (AMS) of Manteca, Calif., which installed the school’s first Gen7 CHPS PreFAB classrooms on May 13.

"We’re excited to have Morgan Hill as the pilot project for the CHPS PreFAB program," said Tony Sarich, vice president of operations for AMS and Gen7 Schools, in a statement. "Gen7 CHPS PreFAB streamlines production and delivery, reducing the time, costs and paperwork involved in purchasing healthy, high-performance classrooms.”

Sarich added that the cost-effective modular classrooms can also provide better learning environments for students and substantially decrease a school’s environmental impact.

Designed to be a turnkey sustainable solution for schools, Gen7 CHPS PreFAB modular classrooms have been pre-approved by California’s Division of the State Architect (DSA) and have successfully completed a stringent third-party review to ensure they perform to the highest CHPS specifications, according to a statement by AMS. Qualifying classrooms meet rigorous CHPS criteria for indoor environmental quality, energy efficiency, materials, waste management, resource conservation and other sustainable prerequisites. The Gen7 classrooms are also engineered to exceed the 2013 California Title 24 Energy Standards by 40 percent to 70 percent in all climate zones, which can significantly lower a school’s operating costs.

The Morgan Hill CHPS project features two Gen7 modular classroom buildings, designed to accommodate increased enrollment in San Martin/Gwinn’s Dual-Immersion Multicultural Education (DIME) program, which has been extended to include middle school as well as K-6 students. The Gen7 buildings were constructed in the AMS factory in Manteca and will open to students in August.

"We’re delighted to be the first Gen7 CHPS PreFAB classrooms to market and hope that Morgan Hill will inspire other school districts to pursue high-performance classrooms as part of their modernization and expansion programs," said Casino Fajardo, director of construction for Morgan Hill Unified School District, in a statement. "Gen7 PreFABs make it easy and affordable for schools to achieve their sustainability goals, while helping students learn and thrive in a healthier, more environmentally responsible environment."