Campus Sustainability
Ontario-based Cambrian College is moving into the next phase of a long-term agreement with Honeywell and Honeywell Building Technologies to replace aging equipment and update lighting in pursuit of energy savings. The improvements are expected to save the college at least $480,000 within the first year.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 10/13/21
Healthy Schools
A $1.4 million HVAC upgrade at Missouri's East Central College, paid for by federal COVID-relief funds, is expected to mitigate the transmission of viruses in several campus buildings. The work was performed by Johnson Controls as part of its "OpenBlue" healthy buildings program.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 10/13/21
University Renovations
St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, announced a renovation project recently that will transform the 105-year-old LeClaire Hall (the second-oldest building on campus) into the Higgins Hall for Innovation and Human-Centered Design.
Healthy Schools
The North Bend School District in North Bend, Ore., recently announced that it has chosen Alen as its provider of indoor air quality solutions.
Campus Renovations
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in Davis, Calif., recently debuted a nearly total renovation of the 85-year-old Walker Hall. The two-story, north side of the facility will now serve as the campus’ Graduate Center.
Healthy Schools
The Meriwether County School District in Greenville, Ga., announced this week that its school board has voted to install disinfection devices on buses.
New Construction
Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., recently announced that construction is complete on a new, $61.5-million Language Arts and Social Science Building. The college partnered with C.W. Driver Companies on the facility, which measures in at three stories and 107,760 square feet.
Campus Expansion
Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, recently broke ground on a 44,000-square-foot expansion to its Aeronautics and Engineering Building. The new space will contain amenities like collaborative spaces, teaching and research labs and administrative space.
Campus Modernization
Fremont High School, part of the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, Calif., recently debuted a series of new and modernized facilities to faculty, staff and students.
New Construction
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Thursday, Sept. 30, for a new K–12 Multi-Campus facility for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools in Garden City, Ga.
Campus Design
Here’s how one elementary school demolished its nearly 100-year-old building and replaced it with a modern, collaborative learning space.
Campus Amenities
Leviton Lighting, a lighting and wireless control solutions company, recently released a series of announcements regarding new and existing products.
New Construction
The University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, recently announced that construction has begun on a new performance venue. The 409-seat theater is scheduled to open its doors to the public by fall 2023.
Higher Ed Facilities
Schneider Electric recently announced that it will continue its partnership with the University of North Texas (UNT) Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas, via a new modernization project that will support sustainable research growth at the university’s health research labs. The $10 million project is the third within the last 10 years between the two organizations.
New Construction
University of Arizona broke ground this week on its new Grand Challenges Research Building, a 115,000-square-foot facility that will house a variety of labs, offices and flexible research spaces.
New Construction
Construction company Kraus-Anderson recently announced the completion of a $30-million elementary school in Pipestone, Minn. The facility is an addition to the district’s existing middle and high school building.
Campus Renovations
Construction management firm Adolfson & Peterson (AP) and charter school network Candeo Schools announced recently that they have completed an extensive expansion and renovation project on Candeo North Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Sustainability
Commercial flooring manufacturer Mohawk Group has joined the Climate Pledge, an effort launched by Amazon and Global Optimism with the aim of accelerating climate action above and beyond the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
Campus Fundraising
The University of Wisconsin–Madison announced recently that plans are in motion to construct a new building for the School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences. The facility is projected to cost about $225 million and will be funded by private donors, according to a university press release.
New Construction
African-American-owned design firm DIGroup recently joined school officials, faculty and students for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of one of the largest projects in the firm’s history.
HVAC
Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US (METUS), a joint venture between Trane Technologies PLC and Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc., announced recently that it has launched an upgrade for its Building Connect+ platform.
Campus Sustainability
Design firm Perkins Eastman recently announced the opening of the first two net-zero-energy schools in Washington, D.C. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies for both schools—Banneker Academic High School and West/John Lewis Elementary School—took place in the last week of August.
Campus Renovations
At Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Penn., the Department of Mechanical Engineering recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new ME Knowledge Lab.
New Construction
Shasta College in Redding, Calif., announced recently that it has scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Veterans Support and Success Center.
Campus Technology
Even as students slowly return to in-person learning, distance learning solutions have altered educational expectations. For many students, remote learning has become a viable option. Even before the pandemic, many would have chosen to study at home if it were a more accessible option.
Campus Renovation
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, announced this week that it is planning an $8-million theatre renovation project.
New Construction
With a celebratory groundbreaking ceremony, construction has officially begun on the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria, Va. University, government and business leaders gathered on Tuesday, Sept. 14, to mark the first steps of the first academic building of the new campus.
Campus Renovations
Aquinas College, a private Roman Catholic college in Grand Rapids, Mich., announced this week that it has received its largest single donation ever from an individual, living donor. The $3-million gift from Peter and Carolyn Sturrus of Grand Haven, Mich., comes in support of the college’s new Gold LEED-certified Albertus Magnus Hall of Science.
Healthy Schools
A study from earlier this year has revealed that the majority of Americans are aware of the benefits that natural light can have on their physical, mental, and psychological health. However, the same study also showed that nearly half of Americans ages 18 and older spend between 12 and 23 hours a day indoors, while government research suggests that most Americans spend up to 93% of their lives inside.
New Construction
The Stafford Municipal School District (SMSD), located near Houston, Texas, recently opened a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Magnet Academy. The $2.8-million facility is the first of its kind in Fort Bend County, and it can accommodate almost 200 students in grades 3–8.
HVAC
Air movement, control and conditioning solutions company Greenheck announced this week that it has redesigned its Energy Core Ventilator (ECV) line.
New Construction
The Luling Independent School District in Luling, Texas—part of the Austin metropolitan area—recently celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newest facility. Shanklin Elementary School came as a result of a bond program passed by voters in May 2019 to upgrade and replace five district facilities in poor condition.
Grants
The U.S. Department of Education announced this week that it is establishing a new grant program to provide funding to school districts that have been penalized for implementing safety measures against COVID-19.
Cybersecurity
Howard University in Washington, D.C., announced this week that its online and hybrid classes have been suspended following a ransomware attack.
Campus Sustainability
Colorado State University Pueblo in Pueblo, Colo., recently announced that it has become the first university in the state to achieve net-zero efficiency.
Campus Renovation
Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, Md., recently celebrated the opening of its newest academic building, the Miguel B. Fernandez Family Center for Innovation and Collaborative Learning.
Campus Renovations
The College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C., has announced a renovation project for its Albert Simons Center for the Arts. The facility originally opened in 1979 for about 800 students. Today, it serves about 4,000, according to a press release, and officials are moving forward with plans to update its classrooms, performances spaces, technology and infrastructure.
Indoor Air Quality
Johnson Controls announced this week that it is contributing its OpenBlue Healthy Buildings portfolio to a pre-existing partnership between two science and safety organizations. UL and SafeTraces joined forces in March 2021 to begin evaluating the effectiveness of indoor air quality and HVAC systems, as well as infection control strategies, in K–12 schools.
New Construction
A groundbreaking ceremony was held this week for a new high school in Boys Town, Neb. The three-story, 110,000-square-foot facility will stand on the site of the small town’s previous high school, which was built in 1948 and was recently demolished to make room for construction.
COVID-19 and Schools
Across the country, K–12 school administrators, teachers and staff are preparing to return to school in the midst of continued uncertainty. As COVID-19 continues to evolve, conflicting positions on mask mandates and safety requirements have spilled out of school board and PTA meetings into the national discourse, complicating decision-making at every level. The ongoing pandemic has created new risks, and elevated others — all of which pose challenges to K–12 operations.