Renovating for a Greener, More Accessible Future
Impressed with the notion of social sustainability, a number of professional associations and trade groups are working to incorporate the concept more broadly into their work. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), for example, has long recognized the three pillars of “economic, environmental and social sustainability.”
School Interiors Promote Adaptability | ||
For recent school renovations, the emphasis has been cost but also flexibility for a range of uses and user groups. The approach, which has been called responsive design or adaptive design, is defined as interior environments having the customized equipment needed to ensure all children, including those with disabilities, “can participate fully in home, school and community,” according to New York City’s Adaptive Design Association. Architects are showing how proven adaptive furnishings and learning tools can be complemented by school interiors that work better for the entire school population, regardless of learning challenges or physical handicaps. The Texas Association of School Boards, for example, pursued a unique approach to classroom flexibility for new elementary schools in the state’s independent school districts. At Kay Granger Elementary School in Keller, Texas, architects from Dallas-based SHW Group employed operable glass walls to meet the vision of the curriculum director, who believed school interiors could be more responsive to frequent changes in classroom setup and teaching approach. SHW proposed an adaptable floor plan concept to create “flex space” that would both increase flexibility while also reducing the costs of installing labs at the schools. Using folding glass walls, the common floor areas between 30 pairs of classrooms can now be reconfigured during the day by teachers and staff. The monumental, standard aluminum folding system, can provide openings of more than 40 feet, with additional paired panels to increase the opening size. “The multiuse space we designed to adjoin each pair of classrooms needed great visibility and flexibility, with good acoustical separation,” says Konrad Judd, AIA, the project’s lead designer for SHW Group, and the folding glass wall “maximizes the view and flexibility of the space when closed or open.” Judd adds that the glass walls are “very elegant and simple systems” that are “safe and easy for teachers and students to use.” Other examples include the Booker T. Washington Elementary School STEM Academy in Champaign, Ill., in which operable glass walls have been used to increase the transparency and flexibility of the educational setting. For the LEED Gold-rated expansion, architects from Cannon Design and Bailey Edward Design used glass partitions to improve visual links and create larger class spaces — called “learning studios” — that increase access, visual connections and flexibility.
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“Further evidence of the trend is that the USGBC has indicated there will be a credit for universal design features in future versions of LEED,” says Gunnar Baldwin, a water efficiency specialist with TOTO, a plumbing products manufacturer. Pilot Credit 34, “Design for Adaptability,” which was updated last August for the LEED 2012 draft, provides for points for homes and mid-rise construction that must meet the Fair Housing Amendments Act — those with four or more residential units and an elevator. “It all fits into our mission: to make sure that buildings are not just accessible but friendly.” (Note: LEED 2012 has not been finalized as of the date of this publication, April 2012.)
A variety of adaptable design approaches can contribute to social sustainability, says Matt Thomas, marketing director at NanaWall Systems, a maker of operable glass wall systems. “Beyond the mere removal of barriers of entry, architects are using adaptive design, where adaptability means accommodating a user’s need or changing needs based on daily usage,” he explains. “At a school, for example, adaptability means the space provides for modifications based on what the instructors and students need to do, day after day. A more flexible floor plan is also more sustainable, as they tend to use less square footage, less land and fewer materials.”
Adaptable interior systems in schools can contribute to social sustainability by removing barriers of entry and accommodating changing needs. This may be more sustainable, as adaptable interiors tend to use less square footage, less land and fewer materials. Photo courtesy of NanaWall Systems |
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