Elementary School
Philadelphia, PA
Selma Benmakhlouf
Lighting/ Electrical
GENERAL BUILDING DATA
Building Name: The Elementary School
Location & Site: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Building Occupant Name: Confidential
Occupancy or Function Type: B2- School
Size: 140,455 SF
Number of Stories: 2 stories above grade; 2 stories total
Dates of Construction: May 2014-Aug 2016
Total Building Cost: Approx. $43 Million
Project Delivery Method: Design-Bid-Build
PROJECT TEAM
Owner: Confidential
Architecture: Schraeder Group Architecture
Construction: Reynolds Construction LLC
Civil: Renew Design Group
MEP & Structural: Brinjac Engineering
ARCHITECTURE
Three new elementary buildings have been developed to replace nine existing elementary structures. The buildings follow a concept called the “school within a school”, where each building functions as smaller units within the larger school, serving a total population of 1300 students. There are two different student bodies: a K-‐2 program and a 3-‐5 program. A common core of facilities that provide all support needed for both programs serves the two programs. The buildings accommodate approximately 50 classrooms, an art room, an office suite, support spaces, a multipurpose room with a stage, a full service kitchen, 2 cafeterias, and a library.
Major National Model Codes:
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2009 IBC, IPC, IMC, IEC
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NEC
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IECC
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NFPA
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2012 ADA Standards for Accessible Design
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Zoning: R-3 Residential
Historical District Requirements: Not Applicable
BUILDING ENCLOSURE
Building Facades: The exterior facades includes a mixture of brick veneer, ground faced CMU, cementious panels, aluminum windows, storefront, and curtain wall systems.
Roofing: The roofing systems include a mixture of sloped metal standing seam roofing and PVC roofing systems.
SUSTAINABLE FEATURES
The elementary school includes a number of sustainable features:
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Different glazing material use don east, south and west facades
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High efficiency geothermal heat pumps and rooftop units
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Light gray PVC roofing membrane used to reflect sunlight
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Exposed ceiling made out of recycled material
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Control system monitoring temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide
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Energy efficient lighting and control system to reduce power consumption
PRIMARY ENGINEERING SYSTEMS
PRIMARY ENGINEERING SYSTEMS
Construction:
Nine building schools were demolished to recreate one building with three parts. The project delivery method for the project was Design-Bid-Build. Construction began in April 20154completed Area A first, then Area B and C, respectively. A complete punch list work ended the project on August 2015, however site construction remained until August 2016. The total cost of the project is $43 million which is divided into three main parts: site, demolition, and new prototype costs.
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Site Cost: $ 890,000
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Building & Site Demolition Cost: $277,000
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New prototype construction Cost: 30,270,437
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Total construction cost (site, demo, new and renovation): $33,437,437
Electrical:
The building is serviced via PECO electric utility company with 277/480V, 3 phase power. Forty panel boards are located throughout the building in the electrical rooms, mechanical room, stage, kitchen, and corridors. A number of transformers are configured to distribute power to the panel boards. A main distribution board of 3000A is located in the main electric room and divides the power between the first and second floor.
Lighting:
The existing lighting solution of the building includes minimal luminaire fixture selection, which consists of LED, fluorescent and metal halide sources. In the large areas, a random distribution of pendants is used to provide general lighting for the spaces, whereas for classrooms a uniform grid of recessed lighting or track lights are used. Daylighting is a big component of the building since it used on all facades.
Mechanical:
The mechanical system of the building includes 4 air handling units packaged outdoors and two air handling units packed indoors. It also includes heat pumps located for each of the areas (A,B, and C). Meanwhile centrifugal pumps are located in kitchen areas, mechanical and electrical rooms as well as toilets. A unique feature of the project is the geothermal heat pump system for the year-round heating and cooling.
Structural:
The foundation structure of the building includes concrete spread and strip footings with masonry foundational walls. The superstructure of the building includes the gravity and lateral systems. The building uses steel moment frames around the perimeter of the building to resist lateral forces of building. There are also steel trusses in the gymnasium that span long distances. The general structural system includes steel girders and beams with composite deck of 5in with a 3in topping sprayed with fire rated concrete.
ADDITONAL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS
Transportation:
There are six stair cases in which three stair cases are located in Area B, one stair case located in area C and two stair cases located in area A. One elevator is located at the second main entrance of the building. There are 15 exits to the exterior two of which are main entrances.
Telecommunications:
The telecommunication system allows a fast exchange of information between individuals in different spaces within the building as well as connecting with others outside the building. There are 4 telecommunication rooms two in area B, one in area C and one in area B. The security system is also linked to the telecommunications system.