Featured Project: Sterling Grade School
Here is a picture of a colorful hallway in Sterling's new grade school. At a cost of $8.5 Million, the school uses daylighting and intelligent color choices to provide students with a wonderful learning environment.
Featured Project: Erie High School - 1st LEED Gold High School in Kansas!
Erie High School is the first LEED Gold Certified High School in Kansas, according to the Green Building Certification Institute, http://www.gbci.org/main-nav/building-certification/registered-project-l....
At 87,700 square feet, the LEED Gold Certified main building is more than environmentally friendly. Project-based learning has been the driving force behind this new 21st-century high school that engages students in rigorous and relevant learning experiences. It is an inviting place where students are anxious to work and reluctant to leave. To understand the design you first need to understand Project Based Learning (PBL). PBL creates an environment in which individual and group projects engage students in real-world issues, and provide the ultimate authentic assessment of interdisciplinary learning. These learning environments utilize self-directed, project-based learning to build student autonomy through relevant learning opportunities. The campus consists of the Main High School Building, the Vocational Building and the athletic complex.
The envelope and building systems were designed to reduce overall energy in the building to 50% below a conventional building. This portion of the project is load bearing masonry with bar joist roof structure. The veneer is split face block, brick and EIFS. The HVAC system is a geothermal heat pump consisting of well fields that provide a heat source/heat sink for water-air heat pumps located throughout the building.
The 20,020 square foot Vocational Building is a pre-engineered metal building structure with a masonry and metal wall panel veneer. This building houses the science, art, woods, auto and vocational agriculture programs. It is connected to and uses the same geothermal heat pump system as the main building.
The new schools all feature as many environmentally friendly components as possible.
