Joamie School to set new environmental standards

SARA MINOGUE

From the outside, the new Joamie School may not look much different than the average school, but the new building, set to open in the fall of 2005, will be bigger, brighter and more environmentally friendly than the building that burned down last summer.

The basic structural design is based on building plans for Ataguttaaluk School in Igloolik, which was based on the original Joamie School, and is not radically different. Twenty-two classrooms fit together around a long hallway, forming a basic rectangle shape, attached on one end to a large gymnasium, 28 meters long.

But the new Joamie school will use 45 per cent less energy and 50 per cent less water than the old school.

It will also be “healthier to be in and more comfortable to be in, and that’s the definition of a sustainable building,” says Ross Abdurahman, the mechanical engineer who worked on the design for FSC Architects & Engineers.

The combined energy efficiencies make the new school eligible for a $60,000 federal government rebate under the Commercial Building Incentive Program, which awards cash back to buildings that achieve 25 per cent energy efficiency over similar structures (in this case, the old Joamie School).

The new school will also be the first Arctic building to be recognized under an American program called LEED, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, managed by the Green Building Council.

Even before opening for business, the new Joamie School is already saving energy because it’s being constructed with energy efficient materials.

For example, “a huge percentage” of the steel in the building’s frame is recycled, Abdurahman says, in a process that takes less energy than harvesting trees for timber.

And instead of using wooden desks, cupboards and other furniture inside the school, the new Joamie school will rely entirely on straw board, a type of particle board that looks and feels like wood but is made out of a rapidly renewable resource — wheat stalks.

The insulation is mineral wool, which takes less energy to produce than styrofoam insulation or fiberglass, and you can touch it without getting itchy.

Once the school is built, students and teachers will find a much healthier environment.

The carpets, paint and even the glue used in the furniture are all low VOC varieties. That is, they contain very few “volatile organic compounds.”

VOCs are the chemicals that make paint smell bad. They have also been traced to hypersensitivities, or allergies, and can affect people with asthma, or even cause it.

The architects have made every effort to remove all toxic chemicals from the day-to-day maintenance school. The polished concrete floor never needs to be waxed, and the varnished furniture can be cleaned without using harsh cleaning products.

Energy efficiency inside the school starts with in-floor heating, Abdurahman says.

“The reason it’s energy efficient is because it’s so comfortable. Because it provides heat where you want it, which is down in our lower extremities, you can actually be in a room that’s cooler.”

Air will be circulated using “displacement ventilation.”

That means that air is introduced very slowly at the floor level. It creeps along the floor until it hits a person. The heat from the person draws the fresh air up around them, until the warmed air leaves the room.

“In most buildings you squirt air in, and the air mixes inside the room, so you get nice clean air mixing with dirty air,” Abdurahman say. “Displacement means you’re actually surrounded by perfectly fresh, clean filtered air from the outside, all the time, because the air wants to climb up around you.”

To save water, the new school will have waterless urinals, ultra low-flush toilets, and all of the faucets will automatically shut off if somebody forgets to turn the tap off.

All of these efficiencies go towards points in the LEED program, which is ultimately determine whether the building is certified, silver, gold or platinum. Right now, FSC is aiming for certified.

LEED also awards points for design elements that integrate the indoors with the outdoors.

The new school will get a point for having two skylights that bring daylight into the core of the school, which houses the library, dental clinic, staff area and counselor’s office.

It will also get a point for providing outdoor views in 90 per cent of the classrooms and offices, excluding the gym. The most dramatic view will be at the south end of the school, essentially a large glass wall, with a vista overlooking Iqaluit and Frobisher Bay.

That represents a major shift from the old Joamie School, where the windowless gym occupied the best vantage point, a topic which, in public meetings arranged before the school was designed, “always came up,” says Lorne Levy, director of lands and planning for the Department of Education.

Perhaps most importantly, the new building will be nearly fireproof. The old Joamie School was sided in wood, and lined with styrofoam insulation, which burns easily.

The new building uses strictly non-combustible, fire-resistant construction.

The new school, which is a GN project managed by the Department of Community and Government Services for the Department of Education, will cost just over $8 million.

FSC calculates that the sustainable design will increase the price tag by one to two per cent of the total cost, but that amount will be recovered in three to five years thanks to energy savings.

Reducing water consumption, however, or creating great views for the students offers no immediate and measurable monetary benefit, but in that case, Levy says, “you do it because it’s the right thing to do.”