Clearview Elementary School

Narratives

Architect Narrative

The design process for Clearview explicitly targeted the integration of its physical environment with its learning environment and community. Beginning with a series of team meetings that included parents, administration, faculty, and designers, an overarching goal was established early: To create a place of learning that inherently teaches students and the community about environmental stewardship while augmenting student performance. Consequently, design priorities included copious natural daylighting, excellent indoor air quality, significant energy use reductions, and minimizing non-renewable resources. As a result, the building itself serves as a teaching tool about the environment, illustrating sustainable lessons and how indoor environmental quality can enhance learning. The biggest lesson learned was that accomplishing these goals requires the early involvement of everyone on the team.

The school community also set a goal of achieving LEED Silver Certification for a cost at or near that for conventional schools. The resulting construction cost exceeded the average for all elementary schools built in 2002 in Pennsylvania by only 2%, yet a 56% reduction in energy costs is anticipated. These annual energy savings equate to over $34,000, which pays back the difference in first cost - relative to the AVERAGE school in PA - within 4 years.

Integrated design was essential to achieving these cost-effective results. This design process utilized the synthesized creativity of all systems’ designers and school team members. It also incorporated computer-simulated energy modeling, materials selections based on life cycle assessment comparisons, and computer-simulated daylighting simulations. Highlights associated with this project’s high-performance green design include:

• Passive solar strategies with building orientation along an east-west axis.
• Sundial integrated into the structure’s curved south-facing sun-screening wall.
• Water consumption reductions of 38% relative to the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
• Underfloor supply air plenum air distribution coupled with ground source heat pumps.
• Lighting power density averaging 0.97 watts/SF, 33% less than ASHRAE 90.1-1999.
• Daylighting design with photocell sensored dimming and occupant sensors.
• Daylight Factor that exceeds 2.0 in all regularly occupied classrooms.
• High performance thermal envelope including insulated concrete form walls.
• High performance triple-glazed windows that eliminate perimeter heating systems.
• Flexible manufactured cabling distribution system underfloor for power, voice, and data.
• Permanently installed equipment that monitors energy consumption, air quality, and CO2.
• Annual energy consumption cost reduction of 56% relative to ASHRAE 90.1-1999.
• Construction waste management plan diverted over 75% waste from landfill disposal.
• Over 75% of building materials by cost contain high recycled content.
• Over 35% of building materials by cost were manufactured locally.
• Over 5% of building materials by cost qualify as rapidly renewable.
• Blended cement concrete utilizing blast furnace slag to displace 40% of Portland cement.
• Selection of low-VOC solvent-free paints, adhesives, sealants, and coatings throughout.
• Floor-mounted air-distribution diffusers that provide 100% ventilation efficiency.

Clearview was one of 5 projects nationwide selected by the U.S DOE to represent the U.S. at the 2002 Green Building Challenge Conference in Oslo, Norway. The project also won the 2003 Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s first prize for “Places of Learning” and is featured in the Commonwealth of PA’s instructional video, “Better Places to Learn.”

Educator Narrative

The classrooms, stairwells, and hallways are filled with natural light. The walls, floors and ceilings are constructed of materials with high-recycled content. The building’s heating, cooling, lighting, and plumbing systems are integrated to reduce energy consumption and protect the environment. In this unique, high-performance, green design school the students, teachers, and community members have the opportunity to come to school to learn, but also to learn about the school and its effective energy form and practices.

This is a facility that is sustainable by design. Sustainable in the ecological sense through the materials and construction practices that built it, and in the energy and passive solar concepts integrated into the structure and its placement on the site. But it is also sustainable in the human sense. This school is a place of learning designed to serve the school community well for many years. By placing all but two classrooms along a northern wall, we were able to harvest the maximum amount of natural light in the classrooms thereby enhancing learning. The air quality is exceptional thanks to an air exchange effectiveness of greater than 90% and the strict use of low-emission, non-toxic paints, sealers, and adhesives. Computer modeling of energy usage and daylighting enabled us to test the impact of a variety of concepts before construction was begun. The result is a learning environment that is healthy, functional, and environmentally sound.

Our design team included a wide variety of interest groups: school personnel, including teachers, administrators, board members, and maintenance workers; community members; parents; architects; civic leaders. Each had significant input in the final form of the building. Instructional and non-instructional staff were interviewed in depth by the architectural design team. The design team then put pencil to paper to turn those wishes into a plan. The plan was reviewed and refined extensively until an affordable plan with many innovative features was adopted.

The design team agreed that this building should first and foremost promote learning, but should also serve the needs of the community. Classrooms and the all purpose room were planned so that the spaces could be divided for single class use or opened up for large group instruction. A working kitchen was included to eliminate the need for prepackaging of student lunches that were then shipped to the site to be reheated. The resulting post-consumer waste was a constant problem. On-site cooking has reduced waste not only in the packaging trash, but also the increased consumption of the food which is now far more pleasing to the palate. We have also seen increased use of the facility after hours by the community recreation program, our district’s sports teams, and the YMCA after-care group.

We are now embarking on an exciting learning process. We hope we have done well in the planning, as we understand that the future depends on the students we educate here and the impact the facility has on the world into which we send those children.