Pahokee Middle School recognized by FGBC
June 22, 2011
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - Palm Beach County's Pahokee Middle School, which was designed by BRPH and completed in 2010, was recently named a Green Commercial Building by the Florida Green Building Coalition. The intent of the FGBC is to encourage building owners to adopt green and sustainable strategies during the design and construction of their projects and to receive recognition for their efforts.
Several project highlights noted by the Coalition include:
• Energy Savings: 21.8%
• Fundamental and Advanced Commissioning (Palm Beach County has a very well laid out comprehensive plan for commissioning))
• Minimum of 50% Florida Friendly Vegetation within the site boundary (note that this is a school so outside the site boundary there are ball fields etc.)
• No potable water used for irrigation
• 30% water use reduction in the buildings through high efficiency fixtures
• Site allows multi-modal transportation
• Reflective roofing reduce the heat islands
• Healthy interiors from clean construction practices and installing low off-gassing finishes such as paint, adhesives, and cabinetry
• Well designed mechanical systems offering occupant controllability and dehumidification
• Local, low maintenance, recycled content and recyclable materials use to the greatest extent possible and over 50% of the construction waste was recycled
• Impact windows and termite prevention used for durability
• Pahokee Middle School is committed to using non toxic cleaning supplies and incorporating an integrated pest management program to minimize the use of pesticides.
• The School District of Palm Beach County has created the Preventative Maintenance Program to improve equipment performance and maintenance productivity. This program focuses on preventing breakdowns and failures. It is designed to enhance equipment reliability, long term building construction benefits and savings associated with preventive maintenance. This program has been created in order to improve and control the life cycle of the equipment within the building and to ensure that building systems are optimized at all times to reduce costs and failures. Also, this program aids to reduce situations involving inefficient building equipment and an over usage of energy.
• Touchscreens are an interactive teaching tool that provide information, which is continually updated using live data, to students, staff and visitors. Information includes occupancy, water usage, electricity usage, and information and diagrams on the mechanical systems operation. This information is also available through the internet and is being incorporated into the school curriculum, assignments and group projects
