School Building Expo
 
Infinite Menus, Copyright 2006, OpenCube Inc. All Rights Reserved.
HELD IN CONJUCTION WITH:
Register Today!
CONFERENCE: May 11-13, 2010 Navy Pier
EXHIBITS: May 11-12, 2010 Chicago, IL

Tours


TUESDAY FACILITY TOURS
Tuesday, June 2nd 11:30 am - 3:30 pm

These tours will depart from the Pittsburgh Hilton and return to the David L Lawrence Convention Center

TOUR ROUTE 1 - Carnegie Mellon University - Part I
CMU is 5 miles from the David L Lawrence Convention Center

Stops will include:

  • Building Performance and Diagnostics
  • The Robert L. Preger Intelligent Workplace (IW)
  • Collaborative Innovation Center

TOUR ROUTE 2 - Winchester Thurston Upper School
Winchester Thurston is 5 miles from the David L Lawrence Convention Center

TOUR ROUTE 3 - Duquesne University Cogeneration Plant  CANCELLED
Duquesne University is 1 mile from the David L Lawrence Convention Center


THURSDAY FACILITY TOURS
Thursday, June 4th 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

These tours will depart from the David L Lawrence Convention Center and return to the Pittsburgh Hilton

TOUR ROUTE 4 - Creative and Performing Arts High School
CAPA is two doors from the David L Lawrence Convention Center and participants will walk weather permitting

TOUR ROUTE 5 - Carnegie Mellon University - Part II
CMU is 5 miles from the David L Lawrence Convention Center
Stops will include:

  • Solar Decathlon House
  • Gates Center for Computer Science Hillman Center for Future Generation Technologies

TOUR ROUTE 6 - Regional Learning Alliance Conference Center at Cranberry Woods CANCELLED
RLA is a 23 mile trip from the David L Lawrence Convention Center so participants should be prepared for at least a 45 min ride each way.


TUESDAY FACILITY TOURS

TOUR ROUTE 1 - Carnegie Mellon University - Part I
Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics
Building operations (heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation) consume almost 40% of the U.S. primary energy, and 67% of electricity. The Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics (CBP&D) is dedicated to research, develop, design, engineer, demonstrate, and test, as well as apply systems, components, and materials and their integration to create built environments which simultaneously increase: occupant comfort and productivity, organizational flexibility and effectiveness technological adaptability, as well as energy and environmental effectiveness; thereby creating a pathway towards sustainability in the built environment. The built environment is a key factor for human health. For instance, materials, component and systems choices, as well as building operations, can lead to sick building syndrome (SBS) and building related illness (BRI). The EPA estimates the annual cost to the U.S. economy to be in excess of $60 billion. In contrast, best practices can significantly enhance human health and result in increased productivity through reduced absenteeism and health costs as well as enhanced motivation, compared to standard practices. The CBPD has established the technical and economic feasibility, as well as environmental and social
desirability to create win-win solutions that prove false the widely held belief that the higher the non-renewable energy consumption, the higher the quality of life. For the built environment, the opposite is largely true.

The Robert L. Preger Intelligent Workplace (IW)
Since December 1997, the IW, designed and engineered by the Center, in close cooperation with architects and engineers and the Advanced Buildings Systems Integration Consortium, functions as a living (frequently adapted and updated to incorporate new materials, components, and systems) and lived-in (occupied by Center faculty, staff, and students) laboratory. The integration of innovative systems (envelope, lighting, HVAC, structure and interior) demonstrates the advantages of and opportunities for integrating daylighting with artificial lighting, natural with artificial ventilation, passive and active heating and cooling strategies. These integrations resulted in high levels of energy conservation. The IW pioneered the concept of integrated horizontal load bearing structure, HVAC ducting, cabling (power, controls, communication) and excess floor technologies for floor-based infrastructures. This resulted in unprecedented levels of user accessibility, organizational flexibility, and technological adaptability, while eliminating the concept of obsolescence and material waste. The research, development, and demonstration work has resulted in numerous applications of technologies and concepts pioneered in the IW. For instance, floor based infrastructures, and flexible interiors introduced into the Owens Corning Headquarters project, Toledo, Ohio, resulted in 500 to 600 thousand dollars per year in savings in worker relocation costs within the building. The Beijing energy Efficient Office Building of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China, has a 60 percent reduced peak cooling load due to the design and engineering involvement of the Center.

Collaborative Innovation Center
The vision of the Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC) is to create the optimal environment to serve the next generation of university–industry collaboration.
The CIC is a four-story, 136,000-square-foot, dry-lab research facility built in 2005 to provide office and lab space for technology companies wishing to collaborate with Carnegie Mellon to create innovative new concepts and products for the marketplace.

Collaborative Innovation Center is a partnership between Carnegie Mellon, the Carnegie Museums, and local economic development organizations and is funded with $8 million in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania tax support. It also represents the hub of Carnegie Mellon's engagement in the Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) program, a program to accelerate economic growth and encourage collaboration between colleges, universities, local economic developers, local government, and businesses within our region. The facility promotes regional economic development as Carnegie Mellon researchers work with industry to develop new technologies, business ventures, and jobs. Construction of the center was funded with state capital and Department of Community Development funds, Carnegie Mellon financing, and support from the City of Pittsburgh and the Regional Industrial Development Corporation.

"As Carnegie Mellon's first effort to create space on campus for joint research with industry, the building is a celebration of the goals of the KIZ program. The building creates a nexus for industry, federal, and university research—supporting start-ups, enhancing competitiveness for federal research funding, and creating a landing zone for companies," said Mark Kamlet, Carnegie Mellon provost and senior vice president. Kamlet said the building is a hotbed for next-generation wireless and mobile computing, robotics, and trustworthy computing applications.

TOUR ROUTE 2 - Winchester Thurston Upper School
Founded in 1887 as a college preparatory school for girls, Winchester Thurston School is an independent, coeducational, school serving 630 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 on two campuses. Our faculty and administrators remain at the forefront of educational innovation, ensuring a student-centered environment that draws forth the strengths, talents, and passions of each individual. Active engagement is core to the school's pedagogy; one of the most dynamic and interesting ways that active engagement occurs is through the City as Our Campus initiative, an experiential learning approach that brings learning alive by connecting curriculum with the cultural, educational, and research resources surrounding the school. Through this initiative, WT students have conducted behavioral studies at the Pittsburgh Zoo, primary research at the Archives of the Industrial Society and the Heinz History Center, participated in academic research at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and UPMC, and pursued internships at the Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, Hillman Cancer Center, and others.The City Campus, located in the cultural and educational heart of Pittsburgh, is home to the new Upper School building, which opened in the fall of 2006.

The new Upper School at Winchester Thurston in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh is a measured composition of modern planning and technology, both relative to the school’s unique pedagogy, wrapped in a traditional neo-Georgian envelope.

The Winchester Thurston Upper School is a 2-story building with a ground floor (okay, a basement). The first floor is the main entrance level and addresses Morewood Avenue similarly to the existing building. There is a similar “governor’s drive”, also. The first floor showcases the sciences: a biology lab, a physics lab, a chemistry lab and a lab for special student projects. There is a small greenhouse. The first floor also houses the Upper School administrative suite and this includes the Upper School Director’s office, an admission office, an office for college guidance, a reception area and a conference room that may also be used as a seminar room for small classes. The main entrance is part of a 2-story atrium that reaches up to the second floor and is “on-axis” with the library entrance and the library’s fireplace. The library is also 2-stories. The first floor includes the Library Director’s office, the central circulation desk and 2 small group study rooms. The library’s second floor focuses on the atrium, holds the reference collection, and is designed as an open classroom - part of the school’s second floor network of classrooms.

A central stair in the atrium, an open stair, climbs to the second floor. There is also an elevator in the atrium that connects all floors. This floor of the new school has 8 classrooms and 1 computer lab. This floor is dedicated to English, history and foreign languages. From this floor students are able to access the second floor of the library directly. There is, of course, an inner stair between the two floors of the library.

The atrium stair also connects to the ground floor. There is a student entrance on this level near the corner of Morewood Ave. and Bayard St. that most students use to move between the new Upper School building and the original (Lower and Middle Schools) building. The office of the Dean of Students supervises this entrance. Also on this level are 2 central locker areas for all Upper School students (rather than having lockers distributed throughout the school), 3 classrooms dedicated to math, a music classroom and a multipurpose room. The central locker areas are effective in controlling the controlled chaos of morning arrival and afternoon departure.

The multipurpose room seats about 270 with moveable seating. The entire enrollment of the Upper School and the faculty may convene in the multipurpose room. It is used primarily for speaking, drama and recital events, and Board of Director meetings. A large, adjacent storage room holds the chairs when the room needs to be open space. The center of the room has a resilient wood floor so that the room may occasionally be used for dance instruction or rehearsal.

There is a boys and girls rest room on each floor. Faculty rest rooms and the faculty workroom are on the ground level and serve as back-stage support spaces when needed by a performance event in the multipurpose room.

The exterior of the building is modeled after the existing building so to establish a sense of continuity and connectivity, like a small campus. It is brick, matching the original building, and with traditional features: double-hung windows, clay-tile roofing, arches, lanterns, and limestone details. One might refer to this architecture as neo-Georgian. Interior finishes include vaulted ceilings in the atrium and the library, wood trim and casing details, and lots of glass - especially in the atrium. Glass between the atrium and the science labs, as well as between the atrium and the library, is intended to provide a sense of openness, a sense of ‘center’, and a sense of school heart and school pride. Finally, a memorial garden is planned for the rear yard that will be access from the multipurpose room.

 

TOUR ROUTE 3 - Duquesne University Cogeneration Plant CANCELLED
For over a decade, Duquesne University has generated the bulk of its own electricity with a clean-burning natural gas turbine located at the heart of campus. This Combined  Power and Heat Plant produces approximately 85 percent of the power used to light, heat and cool the University’s facilities with overall efficiency greater than 70 percent . Electricity, steam and chilled water are distributed across campus through a series of underground tunnels.  The electric system is directly interconnected with the local utility company, which provides supplemental and backup power. Duquesne University’s cogeneration plant is Pennsylvania’s first approved generation system for creating Alternative Energy Credits.

The plant consists of the following:                                    

One 5MW Solar Tarus 60 natural gas turbine
One  25,000 lbs per hour waste heat boiler
2,500 tons of Trane two stage absorption chillers
1,250 ton Carrier electric chiller
60,000 lbs per hour  auxiliary boilers

In 2008, a highly efficient cooling system that relies on ice storage —the first of its kind in a Pittsburgh academic institution—has bolstered the University’s efforts in responsible energy consumption. The process begins by creating ice in 28 massive storage tanks. The ice then melts, creating chilled fluid that is pumped across campus and cools multiple buildings. By creating the ice at night, the University reduces its peak energy demand. The  6,000 ton system consists of 63,000 gallon Calmac ice storage, including 28 tanks and a 1,250 ton Trane low-temperature chiller. 


THURSDAY FACILITY TOURS

TOUR ROUTE 4 - Creative and Performing Arts High School
Pittsburgh CAPA is the City of Pittsburgh School District's magnet school for the Creative And Performing Arts. CAPA School was planned as a new vision for arts education for the new millennium in the late 1990’s and eventually completed in the fall of 2003. Upon completion it was recognized by the National School Board Association with the unanimous citation “Excellence in Educational Environment Design” and the 2004 American School & University Magazine William W. Caudill Citation for best overall K-12 project.

This site was selected for its riverfront position and central location to the City and the School District and it is in the heart of the Cultural District within walking distance of five professional theaters.

The architecture of the school is inspired by the image of a performing arts theater and its location on the Allegheny Riverfront. The river side façade features a six-story glass wall to showcase the dance studio, orchestra rehearsal hall, and the black box theater. A seven-story leaning patterned wall and glass block stair tower, act as a theater marquee. The dramatic curved glass wall not only opens the school to the Allegheny River but will allow the students to turn the interior spaces into a dramatic exhibit for the City. With nine-stories and a basement the school is perhaps one of the tallest public schools in the nation. With its height and no exterior green space to relieve occupants from feeling confined, atrium spaces were added to connect floor levels and exterior walls were made transparent to link the interior with the exterior.

Along Ninth Street, the school's façade compliments the architectural detailing of the adjacent 121 Ninth Street Building and the loft buildings in the Cultural District. Brick is accented with a pattern of glazed white tile to suggest the white terracotta of the existing structure. The four-story sections of glass curtainwall divide the masonry face into smaller loft-like facades.

Special provisions were implemented to isolate sound and limit mechanical noises in the music and theater departments. The floors have floating concrete topping slabs, walls were made sound proof and air conditioning equipment was built with sound attenuators, duct liners and spring-isolated equipment.

Currently the vacant lower levels and upper levels of the existing adjacent building are being renovated to accommodate grades six, seven and eight. The school’s current enrollment of 600 high school students will expand to 915 with the addition of middle school students this fall.

CAPA combined a six-story new structure with a nine-story 100 year old renovated warehouse. Once the new middle school renovations are completed, the total area of the school will be 240,000 gross square feet.

The schools arts curriculum contains highly specialized training for drama, music, dance, visual arts and literary arts and its students have made CAPA academically the highest achieving school in the District.

TOUR ROUTE 5 - Carnegie Mellon University - Part II
Solar Decathlon House
The United States Department of Energy, sponsors of the Solar Decathlon, have selected a total of 20 collegiate teams from across the United States, Europe, and Canada to participate in the 2007 competition. The competition challenges teams to design and build a home that generates enough energy onsite from solar energy to power a household, home-based business and other related transportation needs. The team that compiles the most points over ten contests held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. is declared the overall winner.

"This is the quintessential Carnegie Mellon endeavor," said Carnegie Mellon's Stephen Lee, professor of architecture. "It's a multi-disciplinary, environmentally-oriented, hands-on project that takes learning from the classroom into the field." Lee explained that the plug-and-play concept is demonstrated across the board in the house's design, technology and construction — maximizing adaptability, flexibility and efficiency. New units can be added through a grid of connection points as the number of occupants grows. Project Manager Ben Saks was drawn to the idea of building something he designed. "The concept of plug-and-play architecture is a unique strategy and an exciting way to view 21st century living scenarios," said Saks. "In creating a high quality, ecologically conscious lifestyle that can be flexible or expandable, our house serves as a model to meet consumers' needs and aspirations now and in the future."

The Solar Decathlon competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. More than 70 students from the Schools of Architecture, Design, Drama, Art, the Tepper School of Business and the Carnegie Institute of Technology make up Carnegie Mellon's interdisciplinary team.

Gates Center for Computer Science and the Hillman Center for Future Generation Technologies
Carnegie Mellon is home to one of the first departments of computer science in the nation. Debuting in July 1965, the department quickly became one of the leading centers for computer science education and research in the world. In 1988, the department officially evolved into the School of Computer Science (SCS), reflecting the status of the field and the emergence of a new national culture.

Gates Center for Computer Science Twenty years later the school has outgrown its home in Newell-Simon Hall, named for two of the founding fathers who helped put the field on the map, Turing Award winners Allen Newell and Herbert Simon. Now, as the School looks toward the future, another name will emerge as the marker of Carnegie Mellon's world-class program: Bill Gates. As a cornerstone to the new SCS Complex, the Gates Center will be home to the school's undergraduate computer science programs. Made possible by a lead gift of $20 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the building will include new classrooms, graduate and faculty offices, conference rooms, labs, and open project space.

The revolutionary research that has defined the department and the school for over 40 years will be complemented by awe-inspiring architecture. In addition to "green roofs" and sustainable materials, space for common areas has been maximized to encourage collaboration and innovation. The complex will be situated at the gateway to the campus just south of Forbes Avenue, further reflecting the discipline's prominence at the university and beyond.

As founder, chairman and former CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates is responsible for much of the computer and software solutions we rely on everyday. He has been an ardent supporter of the university, as Microsoft is one of Carnegie Mellon's top corporate sponsors, awarding numerous faculty and student fellowships and research grants. In March 2007, the university opened the Microsoft Research-sponsored Center for Computational Thinking to advance computing research and advocate for the widespread use of computational thinking to improve people’s lives. The Gates Center will be coupled with the Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies to complete the SCS Complex. The Hillman Center was made possible by a $10 million gift from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation.

TOUR ROUTE 6 - Regional Learning Alliance Conference Center at Cranberry Woods CANCELLED
The RLA offers a technology-based facility that is second to none. The LEED Silver green building is the only facility in Western Pennsylvania to exceed all certifications of the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC). The twenty-eight flexible meeting and classrooms offer a unique learning setting in a corporate atmosphere. Combined with their professional event and technology staff, they exceed expectations and provide unforgettable experiences. They take the commitment to the region, the environment, and to the people very seriously. The facility not only offers the highest standards in learning but they support other such organizations that do as well.

JD Events, LLC 5520 Park Avenue, Suite 305 | Trumbull, CT 06611
ph: (203) 371-6322 | info@jdevents.com
©2010 JD Events, LLC
JD Events Green Initiatives