Altogether, the project will replace 42 classroom unit ventilators and all windows original to the 1961 portion of the building. A new wood pellet boiler will soon provide most of the school’s heat. Using wood pellets will also help support the forest products industry, an important part of the local and regional economy, as wood pellets are considered carbon neutral.

Other major improvements at the 101,000-square-foot high school include unifying the building’s three separate heat circulation loops and upgrading its heating and ventilation controls system to provide better comfort and efficiency. Crews will also install energy recovery ventilation systems in the gymnasium and auditorium and demand-controlled ventilation in the cafeteria. Interior lighting improvements will include installing efficient and dimmable LED lamps and controls, and all exterior parking lot lighting will be upgraded to LED technology.

The funds supporting Otter Valley Union High School’s various improvements will be generated through energy cost savings efforts completed through a partnership with Milwaukee-headquartered Johnson Controls with assistance from SameSun of Rutland, Vt. Together, the three are implementing a $3.6 million energy performance contract that will help the school dramatically reduce its carbon emissions, paying for the improvements over the next 18 years through substantial energy cost savings, according to a statement by Johnson Controls.

A 227kW solar photovoltaic array on the building’s roof is anticipated to produce half of the electricity used by the school annually, and is on hold pending resolution by the state’s Public Service Board and local utilities, including Green Mountain Power. The school will be incorporating the solar project into its STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education efforts, benefiting both education and local taxpayers, as it will lessen the facility’s dependence on electricity from the grid. The solar array and other efforts are expected to reduce the school’s carbon footprint by more than 75 percent.

“We believe the solar project we’ve designed with the help of Johnson Controls and local solar developer SameSun of Rutland has all the favorable characteristics worthy of a ‘Certificate of Public Good’ from the Public Service Board,” said Superintendent Jeanne Collins, in a statement. “It will be located on top of our school, not visible from the ground, and almost all the power it produces will be used on site.”

Otter Valley has budgeted roughly $300,000 annually in recent years to meet its energy needs. When the energy performance contract is fully implemented, the school expects to spend approximately $100,000 per year on heating fuels and electricity. Meanwhile the school will also put $160,000 annually toward paying for the project.
 

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Located in the heart of Milwaukee’s downtown area, sustainability efforts and spatial constraints led the design team to place the $30 million, state-of-the-art Viets Field atop a 780-car, in-ground parking structure. The three-level parking structure reduced local asphalt surface parking lots by 6.9 acres.

Additional green goals resulted in the use of 100 percent LED lighting, making Viets Field one of the first in the country to use the energy-saving technology exclusively. Cree, an industry leader in LED lighting technology, supplied all lighting fixtures.

“We recognize that LED is the future of lighting and are committed to changing to LED campus-wide,” said Scott Ramlow, partner at project architect with Uihlein/Wilson Architects of Milwaukee and architect for Milwaukee School of Engineering, in a statement. “Cree was on the forefront of the technology we wanted, and brought to the table a series of products that best fit our needs.”

To maximize light distribution across Viets Field, MSOE installed Cree EdgeTM High Output Area fixtures on 70-foot poles across the field, according to a statement by the company. The luminaires also have the added benefit of delivering significant reductions in energy and maintenance costs while still providing high color quality.

“The light quality is much better than any other field I’ve seen before,” said Jon Jansen, project executive with the Brookfield, Wis.-based contractor Hunzinger Construction Company, in a statement. “When you’re watching people on the field, it’s much clearer and brighter.”

In addition to the outdoor lighting, Cree 304 SeriesTM parking structure LED luminaires were installed in the parking deck underneath the field, providing improved illumination while significantly reducing energy and maintenance costs, according to the company. Additional Cree LED luminaire models were installed throughout.

Constructing such a large facility in an urban environment, MSOE — an independent, non-profit university with a student population of roughly 2,600 — as well as the design and construction teams encountered some unique challenges.

“Whenever you design such a large structure in a downtown, urban setting, there is a complicated set of rules you have to follow,” Ramlow said in a statement. “We had to be very particular about photometrics and had restrictions from the city in terms of light spill, glare and light pollution. The spread and control of the light that we found with the Cree LED fixtures were much better than traditional lighting options.”

MSOE prioritized both energy usage and maintenance savings when evaluating its lighting choices for the 10,000-plus-square-foot athletic facility, according to Cree. By using 100 percent LED lighting, the university was able to reduce energy costs and consumption — in the parking deck alone, the university anticipates seeing energy usage savings of 200,000 kW-h annually — while also saving time and money earmarked for maintenance needs.

“The maintenance savings we anticipate will be a huge benefit to us,” said Tom Barsokine, director of facilities at MSOE, in a statement. “With 70-foot-high field lights, the savings from not having to get up that high to change bulbs will be a major plus. We can reduce the amount of equipment we needed to access the lighting to change the bulbs, since they don’t require nearly as much maintenance as other lighting options.”

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The Cree fixtures met all of our requirements for high-quality lighting and cost savings, said Harold Beumel, director of facilities and planning, Everett Public Schools. He added that since the lights are designed for 50,000 hours of life, the school should see ongoing operational savings due to decreased energy consumption and decreased maintenance compared to linear fluorescents.

He anticipates a reduction in maintenance costs and interruptions to the students’ learning environment, since there would be no on-going need to change ballasts or lamps.

According to Beumel, the district plans for an all-LED school to be completed in fall 2012. View Ridge Elementary School plans to install Cree CR24 troffers, which provide higher-quality light, longer life and greater energy savings than comparable fluorescent options, delivering beautifully lit classrooms for years to come.

"Proper illumination is essential for academic settings," said Al Safarikas, marketing director, Cree lighting. "Not only do the students get to work under much higher quality light than the previous fluorescent fixtures, but schools can also save significantly on maintenance and energy costs, allowing administrators to invest in other academic priorities."

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