More and more educators are being influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to pedagogy, with its mantra of “environment as the third teacher”—an approach that gives Building Teams a responsibility to pay even closer attention to the special needs of today’s schools.
In addition to helping support the pedagogical aims of those owner institutions, Building Teams are also crafting new approaches to creating sustainable, high-performance K-12 schools. As school districts struggle to find the capital to build and maintain energy-efficient, healthy environments, K-12 project teams are developing strategies to help support high-performance educational facilities and stay on budget.
This approach begins with Building Teams taking an integrated approach where the architect, engineer, contractor, and building owner collaborate early on in the project and take a holistic approach to the design.
After reading this article, you should be able to:
- Discuss integrated design strategies that help make K-12 facilities more energy efficient and sustainable while reducing the cost of operations.
- Describe how current educational approaches inform school facility design, including sustainable design approaches. net-zero energy strategies, and the use of modular or prefabricated classrooms.
- List the various technologies, materials, and systems that create a learning tool out of building features and energymanagement systems. to design high-performance schools that emphasize student health and enhance classroom performance.
- Compare various design solutions and architectural features intended to encourage student interaction, physical activity and health, business community involvement, and the use of new technology in the classroom.
Take this free BDCuniversity course
Related Stories
| Aug 9, 2012
Slideshow: New renderings of 1 WTC
Upon its scheduled completion in early 2014, One World Trade Center will rise 1,776 feet to the top of its spire, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
| Aug 9, 2012
DSGW Architects welcomes new employees
Three new employees located in DSGW's Duluth office.
| Aug 9, 2012
DMR Architects converts bank building to municipal court
The project consisted of a $4 million renovation to a 2-story building totaling 13,000-sf.
| Aug 8, 2012
BD+C wins six B2B journalism awards
BD+C wins two national awards, three regional awards, and a regional Graphical Excellence award.
| Aug 8, 2012
BIM’s future up in the cloud
The AEC industry is on the cusp of a still more significant evolution with cloud computing.
| Aug 8, 2012
Giants 300 Sports Facilities Report
BD+C's Giants 300 Top 25 AEC Firms in the Sports Facilities sector.
| Aug 8, 2012
Giants 300 Science & Technology Report
BD+C's Giants 300 Top 25 AEC Firms in the Science & Technology sector.
| Aug 7, 2012
Pioneering revival
Financial setbacks didn’t stop this Building Team from transforming the country’s first women’s medical school into a new home for college students.
| Aug 7, 2012
Shedding light on the arts
Renovating Pietro Belluschi’s Juilliard School opens the once-cloistered institution to its Upper West Side community.
| Aug 7, 2012
How to win more state and local government projects
With a huge building stock at their disposal, state and local governments can be attractive clients, especially in these difficult economic times.
