Executive Summary
In creating this Educational Specification, Integrus Architecture was asked to continue the transparent and inclusive process that the District used to plan and pass the November 2018 bond. The bond included a New Elementary School project and two existing elementary schools. These projects will house over three fourths of the District’s elementary students.

Explored are the above processes used to develop the goals, vision, and guiding principles for the program and design of the elementary schools. Site specific elements and program spaces for Lincoln Elementary are included. The design team and administration will use this specification to validate each aspect of the project to insure they meet the high standards of the Ellensburg School District and the Ellensburg Community.

Process Overview
Continuing the conversation around building organization, the design committee worked in small groups to identify potential solutions that integrated the learning neighborhoods with the heart of the school. The groups were given learning neighborhoods with options for three, four, five, or six classroom groupings. Four potential solutions were identified. The committee then proceeded to take these solutions and apply them to the Lincoln Elementary School site. The groups were guided through identifying the key features of the site such as student drop-off, bus loading, building front door, parking and play activities. This process provided the design committee with the opportunity to identify priorities for connections within the building as well as throughout the sites.

Education Specifications

Visioning
The design of a new school cannot begin without first establishing a common vision and direction confirmed with all the stakeholders. To achieve this, Education Specification meetings were organized around a series of visioning presentations, discussions, and exercises.

The process started with an understanding of Ellensburg School District's Mission and Values:
“All students will graduate prepared for life’s opportunities. We believe that learning opens doors and gives students the chance to open doors throughout their lives. We strive to cultivate habits of excellence that stay with our students long after they leave our district.”

This vision and mission were reviewed along with the current District educational approach, curriculum, and future curriculum goals. The discussion started with, “How could these new facilities support and enhance teaching and learning in the District?” To help the design team and committee answer this, the first meeting revolved around two different exercises “Blink” and “Hopes & Fears.” “Blink” gives an often unexpected snapshot to show a common ground perspective as it relates to various types of spaces in and outside a building. For the exercise “Hopes & Fears,” the design committee first gave comments on post-it notes on a variety of topics, then later chose images that resonated with their hopes, dreams and/or fears for the new schools and captured the committee’s thoughts and priorities on boards.

Other exercises included activities such as “A Day in the Life” which charted the path of building users throughout the day through the lens of Howard Gardner’s Eight intelligences. The Environmental Workshop captured ideas about responsible design solutions for Ellensburg’s elementary schools. The workshop covered four major areas of sustainable design including site and water usage, materials selection, building systems, and renewable energy.

The renovated Lincoln will:
“... be welcoming to all as it honors the past and embraces the future.”

The renovated Lincoln will:
“... honor the historical character and legacy of our building while providing a space that fosters creativity and builds community.”

The renovated Lincoln will:
“... maintain its historical character and sense of community while incorporating modern-day and futuristic accommodations to serve generations to come within the Ellensburg community.”

The renovated Lincoln will:
“... remain a historic building that can be creatively adapted , both physically & educationally, for the needs of the current students and those to come in the next half century. It will be full of daylight and the walls will be covered with student work.”

The Education Specification Planning Committee and the design team discussed hopes and fears surrounding these topics. As they talked, committee members wrote down their feelings on sticky notes and posted them on each general topic.

The design team then brought out a variety of images both of the existing Mt. Stuart and Lincoln Elementary schools as well as images of physical space and activities that would inspire further discussion on each of the topic. The design committee was asked to add these images to the existing hopes and fears boards and further their comments with images that were relevant to their thoughts on each topic. At the end of the exercise, a comprehensive documentation of the committee’s hopes and fears remained.

Keep, Add, Change
This exercise was intended to establish a baseline of the important existing characteristics of Lincoln as well as the existing challenges in the building and on site. These three categories provided a positive way to look at the needs of the school in relationship to what is currently available, what is missing, and what must evolve to help students continue to find success. These items listed here frequently reappeared in other discussions and exercises and began to illustrate the committee’s priorities.

Relationships
After the development of the goals and vision for the project with the design committee, the group worked together to examine the relationships within learning communities and to identify the essential community elements of the school. A number of example organizations were reviewed from the virtual tours and the physical tours the committee participated in. These high-level concepts informed the process of the committee to identify organizational diagrams that fit both the current and future teaching and learning needs of the schools.

For Lincoln Elementary, the design committee reviewed the examples of neighborhoods and learning communities shown here and participated in several exercises to identify the important relationships within the existing building. These examples and exercises are included here.

Day in the Life of Lincoln
The Lincoln “Day in the Life” exercise is intended to identify the transitions and sequences for student activities during the school day. It illustrates which spaces students use the most and helps the design team find opportunities for collaboration, socialization, exploration, formal and informal gathering, creativity, and community use throughout the student’s day. The exercise also provides opportunities for staff and educators to discover unique challenges some students face. The groups chose a fictional representative student to base their day in the life around. Discussions revolved around key points in the day including arrival, meals, support, and play.

The committee identified a few key observations in this process. Those listed below are considerations the final design for the renovated Lincoln should address.

Learning Space Neighborhoods
During the visioning sessions, significant discussions surrounding the concept of Learning Neighborhoods were had. The concept is characterized by a group of classrooms or learning spaces adjacent/surrounding a shared learning area.

This philosophy allows the classroom to flow into the shared area during activities or presentations providing a level of flexibility and variety. It allows classrooms to utilize a larger learning area outside of the formal classroom as lessons dictate. Independent study, group work, team teaching, and project based learning are a few of the many activities possible in the shared learning space. The shared learning space also provides space for reading and social interactions outside of a formal classroom setting. The shared learning and shared conference space provide a variety of pullout spaces for students with specialists such as Title I or speech, language, etc.

Locating the shared area off the main hall separates traffic from these learning areas, improving acoustic separation for both the shared space and the classrooms. Additionally, creating these neighborhoods allows for daylighting and views to each group of classrooms, enhancing the overall connectivity between the interior to the exterior.

These concepts and goals were reviewed for Lincoln and conform to the needs of students and staff desires. The existing building presents some challenges for these concepts, but opportunities were explored in the adjacency exercise and should be continued as part of the design process.

Adjacencies
The Lincoln Design Committee worked in groups of three to five individuals to discuss the needs identified in the previous exercises and lay out options for the relationships between classrooms, support spaces, specialists, and community spaces. These adjacencies were informed by the Day in the Life exercise and groups were asked to focus on a particular grade level for classroom layouts. The committee worked with scale program element coins to represent their ideas over the existing building floor plans.

For the exercise, existing building elements were removed other than exterior walls and circulation. Groups were encouraged to think outside the present building condition in order to identify desired relationships between program elements. Some results here may be challenging to realize in the final building. However, the relationships identified can inform the design process and provide a reference point when evaluating options.

Key ideas explored included the relationship of classrooms to shared learning areas and to support spaces. Resource and Title spaces were in all examples located for easy access and transition by students from their primary classroom. Restrooms were not completely illustrated in each diagram, but were a common discussion. The current separated locations of restrooms with no way to observe hand washing are a challenge. The desires expressed by the committee included either a central location on the classroom corridor or restrooms at either end. This would reduce challenges faced by in-class restroom breaks as well as supervision of divided locations.

Community spaces were examined in the context of access and program needs. Different groups were assigned to review alternate gym locations. The discussion around gymnasium needs included an independent and acoustically isolated music classroom as well as the need for a performance stage for large group assemblies. Options were discussed for adjacent cafeteria and gym space that could be opened to each other. Some of these opportunities are dependent on the final location of the gym addition. The gym location discussions were mostly dependent on site needs are reflected in site diagrams.

Building Diagrams & Site Relationships
The existing building and site were examined in several group exercises. Continuing the conversation around building organization, the design team organized the ideas presented in the building adjacency and site planning workshops to create two site diagrams and three building diagram concepts. These illustrate the concepts discussed by the design committee and will serve as a starting point for the District and design/build team to evaluate during the design process. Each diagram has some merits and some challenges, which will need to be explored further.

Building Diagram A
Diagram A represents the initial concept laid out in the 2018 bond. Classrooms are located predominately in their existing locations. Some classroom space is reclaimed at both floors to reach the desired count. A new stair is created with the gym addition at the south to provide some of that captured space on the second floor over the existing stair. The elevator is located at the south end and serves the three existing levels. The gymnasium is located on the lowest level matching the current cafeteria floor elevation. Commons, Gymnasium, and Library all have direct access to the playground areas. A new public entry would be created at the gymnasium for after-hours activities.

Building Diagram B
Diagram B represents an alternate location for the gymnasium addition at the north end of the site. This co-locates the major community spaces for after hours use and direct access from the main entry. Commons, Gymnasium, and Library all have direct access to the playground areas.

Some classroom space is reclaimed at both floors to reach the desired count. The second floor centralizes restrooms and reclaims space at the north end to capture an additional classroom. A new elevator connects all existing levels.

Building Diagram C
Diagram C represents an alternate approach for the gymnasium. This would be a full-size high school court split with an operable wall that serves both cafeteria and PE during the day, but can be opened up for after hours use and assemblies. This option was discussed in either the north or south location.

This option also frees up the existing gymnasium to serve as a library or other teaching space. Other ideas from the design committee included kindergarten space, music space, or adding a level for additional second floor space. This option would not require capturing additional space on the second floor to meet the classroom count goal.

Program Priorities
During the final design committee meeting, the group was asked to vote with E-Bucks to identify program priorities. These priorities were intended to serve as a reference point for the design team as the program is adapted and fit into the existing building. The baseline assumption for the exercise was that half of the bucks were already spent on infrastructure such as HVAC, lighting, and elevator access. Each individual was then given ten bucks to spend on six program priorities. Discussion followed to understand the priorities.

The top three priorities included Support Spaces, Classrooms, and Playground/Site needs.

The original 49,706 square foot two-story building was constructed in 1948-49. A 1,060 square foot administrative addition was added in 2014. The site is approximately 4 acres in size and urban-residential in nature.

The renovated Lincoln Elementary school project is proposed as a 450 student, 56,000 square foot K-5 school located on the existing Lincoln Elementary site. The renovated school would contain general classrooms, resource rooms, library, kitchen, gymnasium, commons, music room, administrative, counseling, and educational support spaces.

Prior to the renovation work beginning at Lincoln Elementary, the students and staff will relocate to the New Elementary completed at North Cora Street, north of Mt. Stuart Elementary School. Students and staff will be temporarily housed at the new facility while the existing Lincoln Elementary structure will be abated and renovated. After completion of building and site renovations at Lincoln Elementary, students and staff will move back to the renovated building.

Lincoln Elementary School is located near downtown Ellensburg, WA within a “Public Reserve” zone surrounded by residential development (residential medium density, R-M). The school is bordered by Capitol Avenue to the north, Walnut Street to the east, Sampson Street to the west, and residences to the south. Morgan Middle School is located just to the northwest across Capitol Avenue. The school’s main entry is located via a recent administration addition at the northwest corner off Sampson Street. The existing two-story school building is oriented north-south facing Sampson Street with a one-story gym-music volume running east-west long the north side of the site facing Capitol Avenue. Three portable classroom structures are located south of the existing main school building. An existing parking lot with twenty spaces is located to the south off Sampson Street. Play fields are located along the east side of the site. The site is nearly 4 acres. A creek is located to the southwest across Sampson Street south of Washington Avenue. There is an 85-foot stream buffer associated with the creek that extends on to the southwest corner of the school site.

Automobile drop-off and pick-up occurs curb side along Sampson Street; bus drop-off occurs curb side along Walnut Street. In addition to the school’s parking lot, street parking around the school is available along Capitol Avenue and adjacent neighborhood streets. The existing kitchen and cafeteria are located in the middle of the site to the east of the two-story classroom wing. The interior location of the kitchen requires kitchen deliveries to cross the middle of the playground, which is a safety concern.

Ellensburg is centrally located in Washington State east of the Cascade Range and is at an elevation of 1,542 feet above sea level. Located in the Cascade rain shadow, Ellensburg experiences a typical intermountain cool, semi-arid climate with just less than 10 inches of precipitation per year. Winter temperatures average between 19-40 degrees, while summer temperatures average between 50-84 degrees. Prevailing winds for the site, both in duration and magnitude, are from the northwest. The location of the existing school building on the northwest corner of the site helps buffer the wind and protect the play areas to the east and south. This orientation also supports the development of a courtyard south of the existing gym. The existing classrooms were designed to receive ample daylight; tall ceilings with extensive translucent panels above clear vision windows allow high levels of natural light deep into the classrooms. The north-south orientation of the existing classroom wing presents some glare and heat gain challenges for the east and west facing classrooms, however, the issue of glare is mitigated with the use of only a low narrow band of clear glass, and the majority of the light being brought in is through translucent means, which is much more diffuse.

Listen. Process. Draw. Repeat.

The Lincoln Elementary Modernization and Addition project will include Type 1 and Type 2 renovations to the existing building structure. The project scope will keep Type 2 renovations below the IEBC threshold of 50%, so substantial alternation criteria is not triggered. The original two-story Lincoln Elementary was constructed in 1948-49 and is proposed to be modernized along with the 1,060 square foot administrative addition added in 2014. Additions of approximately 7,000 square feet consisting of new gymnasium, music classroom, and elevator are proposed. New playground equipment and updates to the play areas will be provided as well.

Existing portable classroom structures will be removed from the site with expanded parking approximately in the same area consisting of 15-20 additional parking spaces. It is our understanding that an 85 foot stream buffer extends onto the site in the southwest corner of the site south of the existing portables, but no new construction is anticipated in this area. The site is approximately 4 acres in size and urban-residential in nature. There were a variety of programmatic and site constraints that helped guide the site diagram and spatial arrangements for the renovated Lincoln Elementary.

Many of the committee’s and students’ favorite elements from the Educational Specifications are carried into the schematic design phase of the modernized Lincoln Elementary School. Natural daylight, flexible teaching areas, a comfortable building scale for kids, views to outside, landscaping, greenery, and courtyards where kids have a protected area to explore, learn, and engage in an outdoor learning environment are fundamental to the design of the updated facility.

Exploration Sketches

Diagram A — Gym Addition to the South
Diagram A represents the initial concept laid out in the 2018 bond. Classrooms are located predominately in their existing locations. Some classroom space is reclaimed at both floors to reach the desired count. A new stair is created with the gym addition at the south to provide some of that captured space on the second floor over the existing stair. The elevator is located at the south end and serves the three existing levels. The gymnasium is located on the lowest level matching the current cafeteria floor elevation.

Commons and Gymnasium both have direct access to the playground areas. A new public entry would be created at the gymnasium for after-hours activities.

Diagram B — Gym Addition to the Northeast
Diagram B represents an alternate location for the gymnasium addition at the north end of the site. This co-locates the major community spaces for after-hours use and direct access from the main entry. Commons and Gymnasium both have direct access to the playground areas.

Some classroom space is reclaimed at both floors to reach the desired count. The second floor centralizes restrooms and reclaims space at the north end for administrative functions. A new elevator at the south end of the existing building connects all existing levels.

Original Blueprints

Site Layout

Gym Addition

Floor Plans

Elevations

Our work supports the human condition, understands its potentials and frailties, and creates an environment that fosters inquiry, well-being and growth. We seek to understand the human condition and address those things that we, as human creatures, respond directly to - from physical comfort issues such as light levels, temperature, and humidity - to our emotional and psychological needs.

Project Description
The design concept for Lincoln Elementary School has been developed in response to Ellensburg School District’s Education Specifications and program criteria, existing site and campus conditions, various standards and regulations governing the project, and community expectations established by the 2018 school bond. Based on the significant residual value of the existing school building to the community and the District, the original 49,000 square foot two-story building, constructed in 1948-49 with a 1,000 square foot administration addition in 2014, will be remodeled and modernized to become a 21^st century learning environment serving the Ellensburg community for decades to come. The project scope includes a new gymnasium, music classroom, and elevator additions totaling approximately 7,000 square feet of new construction.

The renovated school project is proposed as a 450 student, 57,000 square foot K-5 school located on the existing Lincoln Elementary site. The site is approximately four acres and urban-residential in nature. The renovated school will contain general classrooms, resource rooms, library, gymnasium, dining commons, kitchen, music room, administrative, counseling, and educational support spaces. Prior to the renovation work beginning at Lincoln Elementary, the students and staff will relocate to the District’s new elementary school at North Cora Street, north of the existing Mt. Stuart Elementary School. Students and staff will be temporarily housed at the new facility while the existing Lincoln Elementary structure will be abated and renovated. After completion of building and site renovations at Lincoln Elementary, students and staff move back to the renovated building.

Utilizing the work done during the generation of the Education Specifications as a starting point, the design team developed detailed testfit plan concepts with the new gym addition located to both the northeast and south of the existing building. After review with the District, the clear preference was for the new gym to be located to the northeast so that it can be zoned with the other more public functions of the dining commons and administration. Through the schematic design phase, multiple plan concepts were developed by the design team, reviewed with the District, and tested with Garco Construction, the project’s design-build contractor, to verify and validate the feasibility of the project’s scope.

Site & Building Organization
The existing elementary school is largely an “L-shaped” building with a long, two-story classroom leg running north-south and a one-story gym and music classroom volume running east-west on the site. At the intersection of the two historic wings, a single-story administration addition serves as a recent secure entry point to the school building. The main entry and main façade of the building face Sampson Street to the west. The school’s play areas are located to the east and south of the building. The new gym and music classroom addition to the northeast of the existing building create the opportunity for a new south facing courtyard off the new dining commons, which will be housed in the existing gym volume. A new elevator and secondary-entry addition will be located at the south end of the existing building to connect the school’s three floor levels.

The school’s site organization will feature automobile drop-off along the sidewalk on Sampson Street and bus drop-off along a new and enlarged sidewalk on Walnut Street. An expanded staff and visitor parking lot will be developed to the south where the existing parking lot and portable classrooms are located. While preserving the large “leafer” tree at the southwest corner of the site, the parking lot access will shift south to extend the length of the auto drop-off on Sampson Street. A new service and delivery area will be located at the northeast corner of the school with access off Walnut Street, eliminating the need for food service deliveries to cross the school’s play area. The location of the new gym and music classroom addition will create a new courtyard south of new dining commons. The courtyard will offer a calm and more introspective play area for students, increasing the diversity of recess activities available and maintaining a quieter area outside the new kindergarten classrooms inside the existing building. Reconfigured soft-surface play areas will be developed within the hardscape play areas to accommodate new and expanded play equipment, and the existing play field will remain in its current location to the southeast.

The school’s building organization will maintain and respect the historic character of the Mid-Century school building to the greatest extend possible. Existing classrooms will remain in their current locations, as much as possible, and renovated in a manner to preserve their character, while bringing them up to 21^st century standards. Several of the existing building’s areas will be more extensively remodeled and reconfigured in order to achieve the goals and program stated in the Education Specifications. The library will be relocated to the ground floor where the original building’s kindergarten was located. It will be able to take advantage of the first-floor access and the large bay window projection that lends itself to a more public and shared function. Three first floor classrooms will become kindergarten classrooms with single occupant toilet rooms inside the classroom. A special education suite of classrooms and support spaces will be located where the school’s original cafeteria and kitchen is located, providing most of the specialist resources in a central location, affording the ability to easily collaborate. A new dining commons and kitchen will be located within the existing gym space with a mechanical and storage mezzanine located above the new kitchen. The existing music room and gym storage will be reconfigured to provide building support spaces and access to the new gymnasium and music classrooms. The new music classroom will be positioned so that it can serve as an elevated platform connecting to the gym.

Architectural Expression
The existing school building is a Mid- Century Modern two-story “L-shaped” structure clad in red, Roman brick. The building incorporates narrow, ribbon view windows with translucent panels in the classrooms to bring abundant daylight into the spaces. The brick, windows, and parapets give a strong
horizontal expression to the building. Several stairways and spaces utilized corner windows to add interest and hierarchy to the building’s expression. The existing gym volume, as well as several other spaces, have simple punched window openings common with load-bearing masonry construction
during that era. Some of the historic character, and horizontality, has been diminished over time with the replacement of the original glass block in the classrooms, the removal of the precast sills and lintels, and the infill of the expansive glazing in the original cafeteria and kindergarten spaces.

The new building additions will strive to be complimentary to the existing historic structure, rather than trying to match, or recreate, the existing building’s specific materials and colors. Using guidelines consistent with the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings, the new additions will be clearly differentiated from the original mid-century building. The new additions will take cues from the
existing building using masonry, vertical punched openings, and horizontal corner windows to create harmonious extensions of the existing building, which are enduring and true to their time.

Generally, the new building exteriors will consist of masonry, storefront window systems, and metal panel as appropriate, materials that are enduring, cost effective and easily maintained. Colors and tones will be warm and inviting and work well with the existing building’s materials, the materials will be sustainable and appropriate for an elementary school.

Sustainable Design
Sustainable design and resource stewardship are critical aspects to building a better future for the students that will attend Lincoln Elementary School, as well as the staff and faculty that will work at the school, over the coming decades. There are numerous sustainable design elements that play a role in making the project more sustainable and environmentally responsive, but perhaps none more significant than the reuse of the original school building built over 70 years ago. A rough calculation for choosing to renovate the existing building, rather than tear down and replace the school, shows the project will save over 1,000 metric tons carbon dioxide from being released into the world’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions are widely believed to be a major contributor to climate change.

One of the design features of the existing building that contributes to sustainable design and resource stewardship is the classroom daylighting. The windows and translucent panels, along with the high ceilings, bring daylight deep into the classrooms. Good daylighting levels have been shown to improve student performance, and good daylighting lowers operating expenses in new construction through the addition of daylight sensors that reduce the amount of electricity used for artificial lighting. The new gym addition will strive to also have great natural light to make the experience of using the space enjoyable and reduce the need for electric lighting during the school day. Energy efficient LED lighting will be utilized throughout the renovated building and new additions where there is not adequate natural light levels to dim or turn off the lights. Occupancy sensors will also be used to ensure that the lights are only on when necessary.

The project’s mechanical system will be highly efficient and improve indoor air quality through the direct outside air system (DOAS) and will improve occupant comfort though its efficient heating and cooling systems. Improved air quality and occupant comfort have been shown improve student performance and reduce student and staff absentee rates.

Water is a precious resource, and the project will seek to reduce the amount of potable water used to the greatest extent possible. Low flow plumbing fixtures and draught-tolerant landscaping will be used.

A significant aspect of the design team’s commitment to sustainability and occupant health is the use of healthy materials. Products that contribute to healthy indoor air quality and have low environmental impacts will be prioritized. Like daylighting and thermal comfort studies, good indoor air quality improves performance and decreases absenteeism. Part of the project scope, and critical to the reuse of the existing building, is the abatement of building’s hazardous materials, such as lead, asbestos, heavy metals, and refrigerants. Abating the building will ensure that there are no long-term health issues associate with the building, making the building a healthy place to inhabit.

Structural engineering informs the ways in which a structure can - and should - be built. Through analysis and design, we ensure that what we build is able to withstand the stresses and pressures of its environment; that it remains safe, stable, and secure throughout its intended use. Striving for an integrated solution that meets the needs of all involved, the structural engineering team provides the support necessary to take projects from concept to design to construction - and, ultimately, from vision to reality.

Structural Elements

I. Structural Elements
A. Foundations
Soil conditions on the Lincoln Elementary site consist of silt with sand (alluvial deposits) extending to a depth of between 1 ft. and 7 ft. below grade surface. Gravels with sand and silt are present beneath the alluvial deposits. The alluvial deposits will need to be over-excavated and the sub-soil will need to be remediated to support new footings per Geotechnical Site Investigation Report by GN Northern, Inc. dated September 2, 2020. Geotechnical recommendations for soil remediation include over-excavating to a depth and width 3 ft. beyond the extents of the footings and placing geo-textile between layers of compacted structural fill above 12 in. of compacted quarry spalls.

B. Slabs-on-Grade
Four-inch-thick concrete slabs-on-grade will support floor loading. Slab reinforcement will be designed to reduce crack width and to provide some distribution of loading. Thickened slabs will be provided as required for equipment loading or concentrated loads where the use of isolated footings or foundations cannot be justified. Slabs will be cast over a moisture barrier and a 6 in. gravel base on top of remediated soil. Geotechnical recommendations for soil remediated to support slab-on-grade is to compact a 12 in. layer of quarry spalls into the exiting soft soil.

D. Exterior Walls
The new construction portions of the project will have curtain walls and storefronts. The exterior walls will be supported laterally by floor and roof framing. Vertical support will be provided by concrete foundation walls. Exterior finishes will be laterally supported by light gage steel studs spanning vertically from floor to roof. The existing portion of the building will have minimal changes to the exterior walls.

II. Structural Design Criteria
The following criteria will be used for the design:
A. Building Code
All construction will conform to the requirements of the 2018 Edition of the International Building Code (IBC) as amended by the State of Washington.

Mechanical
Building mechanical systems design evolves in tandem with technological advances, and the engineers at MW combine their years of experience with the new developments to create quality, accessible and maintainable systems. Electronic controls are designed to maximize occupant comfort and indoor air quality while minimizing energy consumption.

Involvement with the Architect and Owner at the earliest stages of a project ensures that the mechanical systems achieve a certain “transparency” - systems that function smoothly and are integrated within the building structure.

Over the years, Architects and Owners have come to rely on MW’s unwavering support and commitment to design HVAC systems that respect the value of simplicity yet rise to the challenge of increasingly complex building requirements. Our focus is merging the current trends with emerging technologies to create high performance and sustainable systems design.

Electrical
To achieve success in the design of modern advanced technology buildings, a cooperative effort by all of the design professionals with the Architect, Owner, and User is more important than ever. At MW, our electrical engineers assist the Architect, Owner, and User at several points during the design by identifying options, creating alternatives and suggesting resolutions based on the specific project requirements and on the benefit of long-term experience.

Through heavy involvement and coordination from the beginning of the project through to User training, MW Consulting Engineers maximizes the benefit of its consultant services for the Owner. From assistance in determining goals to listing and evaluating the available options, from a review of current technology to evaluation of maintenance compatibility, from preparation of comparative cost estimates to participating in value engineering, MW Consulting Engineers seeks to simplify the process of delivering the best electrical systems at the most reasonable cost.

Serviceability
Isolation valves will be provided at each restroom bank for service and at each branch line serving three or more fixtures. Isolation valves will also be provided at branch take-offs from main pipes to allow for future service/revisions without significant impacts to an operational school. Locations will be reviewed with the district in the construction document phase. Isolation valves will be located above lay-in ceiling panels or an access panel will be provided.

Filters and fans serving the classroom will be coordinated for access from mezzanine or ceiling. Equipment will not be located within 10 ft. of the roof edge and equipment will be equipped with removable access panels for ease of cleaning.

Provide fans units with removable access panels for ease of cleaning. Provide access panels for valves, pumps, fire dampers and water hammer arrestors.

Plan for Success
To organize and complete your projects in a timely, quality and financially responsible manner, you need to schedule projects carefully. Effective project scheduling plays a crucial role in ensuring project success. To keep projects on track, set realistic time frames, assign resources appropriately and manage quality to decrease product errors.

This typically results in reduced costs and increased customer satisfaction. Important factors include financial, documentation, management and quality assurance.