Northern Elementary School Engineering Services, Pulaski County Schools, Somerset, KY
GRW provided HVAC, plumbing, fire protection and electrical engineering design services for this new 62,974 SF, 450-student elementary school. Sustainable features abound for the school as it was originally targeted to be a net-zero facility. At its heart is a central geothermal heating and cooling plant generating hot and chilled water serving variable volume air-handling systems with hot water reheat. Energy recovery is incorporated into all of the building’s ventilation systems, as well as occupant sensors to set back HVAC and lighting within the classrooms.
Daylighting was incorporated throughout the building utilizing tubular skylights and all the lighting systems are highly efficient. Intelligent classrooms were incorporated into the electrical design consisting of interactive smartboards, television, wireless audio and video projection systems, in addition to telecommunication systems (data and voice). All plumbing systems are low-flow, making the water use a third of that used by similarly sized schools in the district. Fire protection included complete wet-pipe sprinkler and fire alarm systems.
Due to the somewhat remote nature of the site, a bus fueling station was incorporated to supplement the district’s needs. The building’s emergency generator was tied into this bus-fueling tank to provide long-term run-time for the emergency backup systems. GRW also designed a packaged wastewater treatment plant, which was cleverly landscaped into the building’s front yard.