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NEWS
ARTICLES :: EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
Hilltop Elementary School
Wheeling, West Virginia - With declining enrollment, Marshall County Schools passed a bond issue that included the closing of two elementary schools, which were then consolidated into one brand-new school — Hilltop Elementary. The county’s goal was to provide an environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art, 21st century school that would serve the students far into the future.
The project is located on a 100-acre site that is also home to Sherrard Middle School. Placing the new elementary school in close proximity to the middle school provided cost savings in transportation and maintenance. Both schools are able to share the same sewage preparation plant, water lines and fire suppression system. Additionally, major utilities were already located on the site, and since no previous construction had ever occurred on the parcel there was very little site preparation needed.
As the land was previously part of a farm, the school district wanted to create a unique school that would meet the needs of the county while blending into the rural community, according to Thom Worlledge, AIA, LEED AP, REFP, project architect for McKinley & Associates, the architect on the project. In fact, three large barns remain on the property and are maintained by the school district. So, the architect designed the building to fit this environment. The two-story building has a primarily masonry facade, sloping metal roofs and an open front porch area that resembles a country home or building. On the inside, the school is modern and outfitted with the most advanced technology.
FACTS & FIGURES
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Hilltop Elementary School was slated to be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®)-certified school building in West Virginia, according to Matt McBee, project engineer for P|C|S Project and Construction Services, Inc., the project’s construction manager. The LEED guidelines for the project required construction waste recycling, the use of specific lighting characteristics, high-efficiency windows and other building materials, as well as numerous elements to minimize the consumption of water and energy. In addition, the building was designed to use local materials as much as possible, and the interior flooring materials were selected for durability to reduce the need for extensive maintenance.
“As we learned about LEED certification, we extended this into the classroom,” said Wayne Simms, assistant superintendent for Marshall County Schools. Project-based learning units were developed by the teachers so students would learn about recycling, energy savings and how buildings affect the environment. “They also learned how to minimize their carbon footprints. Through the process the county became aware of the benefits of going green. As we construct our next project, Cameron High School, the lessons from Hilltop Elementary and benefits of LEED certification will guide us.”
“Even though the building was designed to be sustainable…it was not planned to be LEED until after the construction started,” said Worlledge. This presented many challenges on the project and required a great deal of coordination with the architects, engineers, subcontractors and suppliers. One key challenge was that the HVAC system had to be redesigned as a result of energy-reduction requirements associated with LEED. Air-handling units and chillers were all downsized by approximately 20 percent. This change affected numerous other elements, such as electrical feeder size and mechanical room layout, which in turn produced a chain reaction to the schedule. Because the HVAC equipment was changed, alterations had to be made to accommodate the new configurations and electrical requirements. Ductwork sizes and hydronics had to be redesigned, resized and rerouted. All these changes affected the schedule, including the additional six- to eight-week lead time associated with the redesigned HVAC equipment.
Because the LEED certification requirements were not implemented until after construction commenced, providing the required/requested items to achieve LEED certification was challenging and required innovation, according to John Humpe, vice president of Grae Con Construction, Inc., the project’s general contractor.
Despite the challenges, the project was successfully completed in July 2009. “The state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly building contributes to the area,” said Simms. “The community utilizes the resources in the building for a variety of activities; the staff has a high-quality environment with all the recent technological innovations to enhance learning; and the building is a very welcoming and inviting atmosphere where visitors immediately feel comfortable.”
— Stacey Nathanson
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