Master Planning - An Intelligent Road Map for School Districts

Columbia High School Students, Nampa, Idaho

Our schools are the training grounds of our future citizens and leaders, and the quality of our school facilities has a profound impact on staff and student health and student learning.  A well-conceived facility master plan provides a durable tool and roadmap for faculty, facilities managers, and district administrators.  It is a vital component in the responsible and cost-effective management of an educational organization.

Benefits of Facilities Master Planning

A facilities master plan helps school districts identify both urgent and long-term facilities needs in terms of maintenance, operations, replacement, consolidation, and even closure.  It helps staff manage priorities proactively, rather than reactively, which is especially beneficial for districts with limited resources.

A good master plan identifies potential facility issues before they become critical and expensive problems.  It will also help reduce operational and life cycle costs of the physical plant by detailing timely and appropriate maintenance activities.  Less money spent on building upkeep means more flexibility in funding educational programs.

When the physical plant is well managed and maintained, energy use is reduced and teaching environments are safer and healthier for all.

Vo-tech training is increasingly important in today's education plans.

Basic Steps

The professional master planning consultant will begin with conversations with the District administration to establish an overall timeline and identify key participants (the Master Plan Team).  The program includes four parts.

Part 1 – Research, Study and Analysis

The consultant leads an initial workshop with all the participants to establish and clarify expectations, goals and objectives.  This is followed by a comprehensive study including:  land use assessment, infrastructure, building/facilities condition, transportation, demographic trends, facility utilization, energy performance, economics, and educational suitability.  The results of the studies are analyzed and shared with the Master Plan Team.

Part 2 – Alternative Land Use Phase

Where applicable, the master plan will address:  planning and design concepts; pedestrian and non-pedestrian circulation; recreation and open space; transit, circulation and parking; climate and environmental factors; design guidelines; and building and massing studies.

Part 3 – Definitive District Site Plans

For each site the master plan will include a draft development plan, estimate of probable project costs and proposed project phasing.

Part 4 – Master Plan Recommendations

The consultant will work with the district to refine the plan and develop exhibits.  At this time, the Master Plan is published.



Today's digital laboratories require specialized infrastructure and secured systems.

A Master Plan Should

§  Promote “best practice” recommendations, not mandates.
§  Coordinate facility activities throughout the organization.
§  Consider and account for changing educational needs and the impact to infrastructure.
§  Educate school and district administrators about facility operations.
§  Teach faculty and staff how they can help with facilities maintenance.

Getting Started

§  Consult with a professional architect or planner.
§  Commit to a team approach – School Board, District Administrators, Educators, Staff
§  Welcome multiple perspectives and engage multiple disciplines
§  Allow the process to take the necessary time

 

Sergio A. Martinez, Jr. brings nearly 40 years of experience planning and designing projects for public owners, including 17 Arizona school districts.  He is an architect and project manager with CSHQA in Phoenix. 

 

 

 

BIM Helped Build the Region's Newest Emergency & Trauma Center



Resuscitation Room at the new Saint Alphonsus Emergency & Trauma Center

A Level II Regional Trauma Center is the critical epicenter for many patients experiencing serious or life threatening trauma, and must remain fully operational 24 hours a day.  Any modifications done within a facility like this need carefully phased construction.  After  21 months, we are proud to show the results of our planning to renovate and expand the Emergency and Trauma Center at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. 

Along with police, fire and paramedic services, hospital emergency departments give true meaning to rapid response.  As this regions only Level II Trauma Center, the Saint Alphonsus Boise facility is vitally important to the community.  And while the project was technically to expand the Emergency Department and Trauma Center from approximately 15,000 square feet to just over 20,000 square feet, it was also a significant renovation in that almost nothing of the prior department remains.  This was accomplished through a very detailed and deliberate phasing of every aspect of construction.  BIM (building information modeling) played a role in the successful outcome.

BIM technologies and programs have been around for more than a decade.  Somewhat surprisingly, it’s the contractors who are the early adopters.  With rapid advancements in the computing power of lightweight notebooks and tablets these programs have become standard tools at the construction site, improving efficiency and saving both money and time. 

At CSHQA we are applying programs that are more powerful and more flexible.  All good things when you need to break a project into small pieces while building a figurative ‘firewall’ around services that cannot be interrupted. 

By our count, above the ceilings and below the roof structure, the Emergency Department has some 36 distinct utility systems which serve the critical functions below.  Each one of these utility systems was essentially removed and replaced while the balance of the department remained up and functioning. 

There never seems to be enough “interstitial” space for these types of systems, and that was never truer on this project.  Parts of the building were first constructed in the 1970’s before much of today’s technology was yet to be conceived.  BIM helped through the design process to facilitate a clear path through this tight labyrinth of existing systems and available space.  By building and then analyzing the BIM model, we were able to work with the Contractor during the design phase to help avoid above ceiling ‘collisions’ while keeping a minimum number of patients beds up and functioning at any given time.

CSHQA's planning and renovation yielded the following improvements at Saint Alphonsus - Boise: 

• The Emergency Department and Trauma Center expanded from 15,000 square feet to 20,255 square feet. 
• Treatment bays divided by curtains were replaced by individual private patient suites.  Each room is equipped to address any emergency, eliminating wait-time for specialized equipment. 
• Softer lighting, sound absorbing flooring and a more calming environment will help ease anxiety for all patients as well as support the unique physical and emotional needs of this region’s senior population.
• The expanded Emergency and Trauma Center houses the region’s only decontamination unit, a secure chamber that will allow for an isolated response to patients injured in explosions, chemical spills and other accidents involving hazardous materials; increasing safety for all patients and their medical teams. 

About Saint Alphonsus Health System As a faith-based Catholic ministry and not-for-profit health system, Saint Alphonsus Health System reinvests in the communities we serve, through charity care and other benefits. Our goal is to improve the health and well-being of individuals by emphasizing care that is patient-centered, physician-led, innovative and community-based.  Saint Alphonsus Health System serves the people of southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada through the following facilities: Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center - Boise, ID; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Nampa, ID; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Ontario, OR; Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Baker City, OR; and, Saint Alphonsus Medical Group with primary and specialty care providers at over 60 clinic locations, all of which are members of the Saint Alphonsus Health Alliance, a network of over 1500 employed and independent providers focused on making care easy to access, improving health outcomes and reducing the costs of healthcare.  To find out more go to:  www.saintalphonsus.org

Dave Davies, AIA, project architect and associate with CSHQA, led the nearly three-year planning, design and construction effort to remodel and expand the Emergency & Trauma Center.  Dave specializes in healthcare and senior living design.

Energy Codes and Energy Incentives



National Code Adoption Map as of November 2013.  Source DOE website.

On Jun 26, 2014 the Idaho Chapter of the US Green Building Council hosted an event at our Boise office titled “The Business Case for Carbon Reduction”.  Local leaders from government, commerce, industry, architecture and non-profits spoke of the pressing need to incorporate sustainable practices into our everyday business models as well as the planning and design of buildings and communities.  To that end we are posting an article written earlier this year that discusses incentivizing sustainable design.

A similar version of this article first appeared in the Idaho Business Review, January 20, 2014.  Look for future articles in the IBR later this summer – Kent Hanway, AIA, CSHQA President

On Jan. 1, 2014 Idaho adopted the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code, the most current and most stringent code applicable to renovation and new construction for commercial construction. This brings Idaho in line with states such as Washington, Oregon, California, Massachusetts and many others. (Although the most current we can find, the map above is a few months behind.)  While energy is relatively inexpensive in Idaho and some may ask why we are working so hard, this is a strong move for our future to keep energy consumption and costs low.

Many people think manufacturing and transportation are the big energy consumers and polluters. Each does its share, with manufacturing consuming 31 percent and transportation 28 percent of U.S. energy. The remaining 41 percent?  Buildings.  The energy to construct and then use the buildings we make consumes more energy than either industry or transportation. Buildings are also the No. 1 producer of global carbon dioxide emissions and the amount is steadily increasing. An analogy from The Living Building Challenge, a nonprofit promoting sustainable design, compares building a 50,000-square-foot commercial building to driving a car 20,000 miles per year – for 730 years!

No matter your view on climate change, we cannot continue on this trend. It simply costs too much to build and operate inefficient buildings. The IECC is revised every three years, and compared to 2006, the 2012 code raises energy efficiency of commercial buildings by 30 percent. However, it is up to the states to adopt new codes, so the federal government and many power companies employ construction-related programs that encourage better-than-code outcomes. Often these programs are very generous, paying for equipment and upgrades with the owner paying only for design and installation.

Idaho Power is one of those companies. Since 2002, Idaho Power has implemented various programs to incentivize building owners and builders to exceed code requirements and build greener buildings.  Idaho Power currently sponsors three commercial building programs:

• Easy Upgrades offers incentives for simple retrofits within existing commercial and industrial buildings.
• Building Efficiency for Commercial Construction assists in offsetting capital expenses for efficient lighting, cooling and control systems, as well as better-built building shells for new or renovated commercial and industrial construction.
• Custom Efficiency for Complex Projects addresses large commercial and industrial users that improve their electrical systems or processes.

Until recently, a federal incentive program within Section 179(d) of the tax code allowed generous tax deductions in the form of accelerated depreciation for energy upgrades to existing commercial buildings.  Although there is periodic talk in Washington of extending this provision, it sunset December 31, 2013 and looks unlikely to be renewed.

Our experience with both programs has saved our clients and ourselves money.  However, as we see in the federal program, incentives are not guaranteed into the future.  With more stringent codes, many incentive programs are less cost effective or even redundant.  Power companies will not incentivize customers for merely reaching code.

Yet, there is a silver lining going forward.  Regardless of the duration of these and other programs, savvy developers and investors already know something very important about building green: It saves money and increases property values.

The simple payback from many energy efficiency measures is estimated at five to seven years. Green buildings are less expensive to operate, raising return on investment compared to comparable leased space. Green buildings are also perceived to have greater value in the market. In five different studies from 2009 to 2011 in 12 urban U.S. markets, some including Boise, green buildings experienced higher rents, fewer vacancies and faster absorption. Sales of green buildings experienced shorter durations and higher net prices.

Karen Warner, president of Tenant Realty Advisors in Boise, sums it up:  “The demand for green office buildings will continue to increase as more and more national firms recognize the benefits of leasing sustainable office space. Not only does it make economic sense, but green buildings also have a positive influence on employee retention and productivity.”

The financial incentives of grants, rebates and deductions may be vanishing, but the real money in green building remains.  –

Kent Hanway is a licensed architect and president of CSHQA, a Boise-based, 90-person architectural and engineering firm. He is a member of the Idaho Power Energy Efficiency Advisory Group, the Urban Land Institute and the American Institute of Architects.

 

Five Designers Walk into a Furniture Store...

CSHQA Designers: Sam White, Mandie Brozo, Evelyn Peterson, Nicole Cecil, Megumi Haus

You never know what you’re going to get when you combine the talents of a CAD guru, an Architect-in-Training and three Interior Designers. 

The folks at Office Environment Company [OEC] invited a few of their design friends to a friendly competition to see who could ‘dress up’ a Buoy.  The Buoy Design Competition posed a challenge to teams to take a simple gray and white buoy (a drum-like stool that rocks on a rounded bottom) and design creative graphics that express ‘movement.’

 

Team CSHQA, consisting of [L-R] Sam White, Mandie Brozo, Evelyn Peterson, Nicole Cecil and Megumi Haus, chose to create a theme around camping in the great outdoors.  As Mandie Brozo explains, “You are always moving when you are camping.  Hiking, swimming, kayaking, setting up a tent, exploring… Even if you are sitting still, there is still movement in nature.”  To convey this theme Team CSHQA created a scene that can be best seen when the buoy is in motion.  The element of surprise is the water flowing around the lower drum of the buoy.  This is seen when the buoy moves up and down for height.

 

These gals are making waves!  See Nicole and Megumi in a previous blog http://bit.ly/1jkQX9F . –

Celebrating 125 Years: Innovation and Sustainable Design

CSHQA in early morning light

Energy Star was created by the EPA and US Department of Energy in 1992; green leader USGBC was founded in 1993, followed by LEED™ in 1994; Green Globes expanded to the United States from Canada in 2004. 

Sustainable design has been a driving force at CSHQA since the 1970's and continues ever stronger today.  In 2013 CSHQA’s Boise office moved to its present location at 200 Broad Street.  LEED registered with a goal of Platinum, the once 60-year-old warehouse is now one of the most energy efficient commercial office buildings in the state and the only one to use a radiant system for both heating and cooling.  Geothermal heat, daylight harvesting, LED lighting, low-water-use features, a thorough commissioning process, and extensive HVAC and lighting controls all contribute to an estimated EUI [Energy Use Intensity] of 30*, far less than median US office of ~150-200**. 

 

Conceived as a laboratory for high performance design, this building and the team who conceived it place CSHQA firmly in the 21st century with our focus on the future of innovative and sustainable architecture and engineering.  –

 

 

* Preliminary figure.  A more precise EUI will be available after the building has experienced a full year of post-commissioning operation.

** Comparative EUI figures based on benchmarking of more than 100,000 buildings can be found on the Energy Star website: http://www.energystar.gov/buildings/sites/default/uploads/tools/DataTrends_Energy_20121002.pdf?bebf-1d6e

 

A Sampling of CSHQA Projects, Past and Present

From recent advertisements...

A small sample of 125 years of projects.
(Read left to right and across the text.)

Idanah Hotel (1900)

Central Fire Station (1903, remodeled for CSHQA office 1985)

Bank of Idaho (1963, now Key Bank)
Boise Air Terminal (1967)
The Kibbie Dome/University of Idaho (1976)
BSU Pavilion (1982, now Taco Bell Arena)
Albertsons Stores (1981 – 2002)
Boise Art Museum Addition (2007)
Idaho Power Building (1991)
Whole Foods Markets, Boise (2012)
Blue Cross of Idaho (1997)
10^th and Grove (est. 2015)
Idaho State Capitol Renovation and Restoration (2010)
Boise Air Terminal (2004)
Mulvanney Medical Office Building (2009)
Treasure Valley Community College (2010)
BSU Engineering Building (1999)
C.W. Moore Building (1995)
CSHQA (2013)
–

Celebrating 125 Years: Globalism (1989 - Today)



Meridian Public Safety Building BIM Rendering

CSHQA turned 100 in 1989, the same year the Berlin Wall fell and the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Dali Lama.  Neil Smull spoke at Tsinghua University in China and was honored for leadership in energy efficient design in schools and public buildings.

Innovations in technology and communications led to better design tools and demands for rapid production.  CSHQA added in-house engineering services to meet demand and provide better, more fully-integrated designs. The Sacramento office opened in 1990 and retail work grew with national brands Albertsons, Walgreens, Safeway, and Whole Foods.



River Park Place 'Pocket Park' at Myrtle and Broadway Streets

Corporate and public work kept pace with an expanding economy.  Major projects included Idaho Power Office (1991), Idaho State Police Central Facility Complex, Blue Cross of Idaho Corporate Headquarters (1997), CW Moore Office Building and apartments(1999), The Springs Apartments (2010, LEED Platinum), Meridian Public Safety Building (2014) and new or renovated airport terminals for Boise, Fresno, California, and Grant County and Medford, Oregon.


State of the Art Emergency Department

Education facilities included the BSU Engineering Complex, Treasure Valley Community College (LEED Gold), and Nampa School District’s Columbia High School Campus.  Long-standing relationships with regional medical centers continued with tenant improvements for St. Luke’s in Boise, Meridian and Wood River, and the Mulvaney Medical Office Building (2010, LEED Gold) and a new Emergency Department (2014) for Saint Alphonsus.

 

Idaho State Capitol House Gallery (Renovated and Restored 2010)

Spanning nearly a decade of planning, design and construction, and costing $120 million, the Idaho State Capitol Renovation and Restoration (2010) was the largest public works project in Idaho’s and CSHQA’s history.  –