- still reading Ishmael, it is a tough read so i'm reading most of it so i really understand it
- Skimmed the other books i have, hopefully will have the tiles and other info about them posted on the wiki soon.
- Finished doing a draft of the LEED For Schools checklist will post those results on here as soon as i clear up the last few questions.
- Going to start working on the LEED for Existing Buildings checklist, need the big book back from dad.
- Going to try and check in with Robbert and Rob Fleming for some resources. Robbert has some websites he said might help me and Rob we were thinking of maybe seeing if some of his students could take on the building as a case study.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Update 2/27/08
So a quick update on where things are.
Hector Garcia middle school tour
On February 15th 2008 I got the joy of getting a tour of Dallas’ new middle school Hector P. Garcia Middle School (HGMS) by my mentor Peter Brown who actually designed it. It is a brand new LEED certified school that just opened in September 2007. Here is more info about the actual project.
The purpose of my visit to the middle school was to learn about how Peter made it sustainable, and also about the different ways he made it both enjoyable to be in and environmentally friendly.
I was in awe during the whole tour! When we first drove up to the school I couldn’t believe it was actually it. It was huge! We parked the car and met up with Peter. Throughout the whole tour I was just amazed. The building in some ways looked and felt just like SLA; Colorful, bright, and culture-oriented. However there were so many ways in which the two schools are totally different. First off the size, HGMS is huge, four blocks, and a brand new building. SLA is less than a city block, and the building existed before it was our school. Because of these two big differences there are a lot of things that Peter did to make HGMS sustainable that I could never do for SLA. However, I still learned a ton from the tour about architecture/design in general and sustainability. Peter shared with me why he made curtain decisions on what was more important and how he had to really watch the budget of the project. I also got to see how he dealt with different issues like sunlight and lights. Almost every room in HGMS had huge windows to let in as much light as possible. Then in rooms that didn’t have windows Peter made sure they could control the lights, either with a light switch or a monitor that automatically turned the lights off after a certain time were there is no motion. Also, I slowly started picking out items he used to get LEED points for certification, as I had just filled out the LEED For Schools Checklist on the plane for SLA (we didn’t do so well). However, some of the points SLA could get, like adding a bike rack somewhere.
Overall though, this visit was amazing! It truly opened my eyes up to how great school buildings can be, that they don’t have to look like prisons (like many of the Philadelphia schools do). And I think that is truly important—having a nice, friendly building to learn in. The fact that the building is sustainable also adds on the health benefits, which makes the space even more enjoyable to be in. Throughout the whole tour, I was truly jealous of how big a school it was and how many great facilities they have. I’m really excited to get started on implementing some similar things to make SLA even better.
The purpose of my visit to the middle school was to learn about how Peter made it sustainable, and also about the different ways he made it both enjoyable to be in and environmentally friendly.
I was in awe during the whole tour! When we first drove up to the school I couldn’t believe it was actually it. It was huge! We parked the car and met up with Peter. Throughout the whole tour I was just amazed. The building in some ways looked and felt just like SLA; Colorful, bright, and culture-oriented. However there were so many ways in which the two schools are totally different. First off the size, HGMS is huge, four blocks, and a brand new building. SLA is less than a city block, and the building existed before it was our school. Because of these two big differences there are a lot of things that Peter did to make HGMS sustainable that I could never do for SLA. However, I still learned a ton from the tour about architecture/design in general and sustainability. Peter shared with me why he made curtain decisions on what was more important and how he had to really watch the budget of the project. I also got to see how he dealt with different issues like sunlight and lights. Almost every room in HGMS had huge windows to let in as much light as possible. Then in rooms that didn’t have windows Peter made sure they could control the lights, either with a light switch or a monitor that automatically turned the lights off after a certain time were there is no motion. Also, I slowly started picking out items he used to get LEED points for certification, as I had just filled out the LEED For Schools Checklist on the plane for SLA (we didn’t do so well). However, some of the points SLA could get, like adding a bike rack somewhere.
Overall though, this visit was amazing! It truly opened my eyes up to how great school buildings can be, that they don’t have to look like prisons (like many of the Philadelphia schools do). And I think that is truly important—having a nice, friendly building to learn in. The fact that the building is sustainable also adds on the health benefits, which makes the space even more enjoyable to be in. Throughout the whole tour, I was truly jealous of how big a school it was and how many great facilities they have. I’m really excited to get started on implementing some similar things to make SLA even better.
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