Holladay Elementary School Expansion

Holladay Elementary School is tucked away in a resi­dential neighborhood with a growing Spanish speaking population. With rising enrollment and no available land in the Henrico County’s Brookland district to build a new elementary school, the design team completed several studies to confirm that the existing Holladay Elementary School site could accommodate a significant expansion. Design of the elementary school features a two-story academic wing flanking the library. Each classroom wing features extended learning areas to facilitate group interaction with write-able surfaces, soft seating, technology, and display monitors. A focal point within the project is the social stair, which is both a gathering area for students and a presentation platform, and also serves as a transportation hub. The administration suite features a community room to be used by the public, with limited access to the educational wings.

The expansion project received the Designed to Earn the Energy Star certification from US EPA, which recognizes the school as being among the most energy efficient K-12 school designs in the nation. Moseley Architects performed an energy benchmarking study in early design to determine the EUI targets that would need to be met to achieve DEES certification for the new design.  This benchmarking study was followed up by an integrative design process with HCPS to identify the energy efficiency strategies that resulted in the best financial payback and the most environmental benefit.

The resulting solution for the Holladay Elementary School Expansion uses an all-electric design to capitalize on the continued improvements to the region’s electric grid as utilities move towards cleaner, renewable energy sources and away from fossil fuels.  The building is also equipped with a 200 kW rooftop solar PV array that is projected to generate 30% of the school’s annual energy needs, resulting in a net Energy Use Intensity (EUI) from the grid of only 26.3 kBtu/SF/yr.  This solar PV array was procured by HCPS through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to install solar for zero upfront cost while also benefitting from a lower cost of electricity for the 25-year contract term.

Other energy efficiency strategies included in the design include the following:

- Envelope:  spectrally-selective insulated 1” low-e glazing, whole-building air-barrier system with continuous insulation

- HVAC:  variable refrigerant flow (VRF) mechanical system with dedicated outside air units (DOAU) and air-side energy recovery

- Lighting:  LED interior and exterior light fixtures throughout the entireschool with daylight sensors in daylit spaces

The design team incorporated sustainable materials that are easily maintained such as the polished concrete floors. The design team also focused on using standard materials in unique patters to keep costs down while personalizing the space, such as the wood paneled waterfall that floats over the learning stair and blue aluminum panels that accent the teacher work room.

Holladay Elementary School received LEED Gold certification.

Images by Chris Cunningham Photography.

Aerial photo of PV arrays by Henrico Public Relations and Media Services.