The following questions were posed during the public question
and response session from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. The presenters
consisted of:
The following questions were posed during the public question
and answer session and recorded by Earl Edwards; the following
responses reflect the meeting discussion and any subsequent
information the District can provide.
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Please explain why the Nathan Hale & Summit
K-12 field replacements need to happen now.
The artificial turf fields at Nathan Hale and Summit K-12 are
scheduled to be replaced as part of the Building Excellence (BEX)
III Program under a separately funded project in summer of 2008.
The fields were installed approximately eight years ago and have
reached the end of their functional lifespan. The turf fields are
scheduled to be replaced during the summer when school sports are
not scheduled.
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Is the Fitness Center moving to a portable? Will
the outside caged area be retained; if so, where? Will there be
outdoor access?
The Fitness Center (a.k.a. Weight Room) will be temporarily
located in a portable while the new Fitness Center is built as a
part of Project 1. The new Fitness Center will be located with easy
access to the gym and to the play fields, and will have direct
access to a paved plaza at the new east entry and lobby. The design
team has met with the school staff and is currently exploring
opportunities to provide the Fitness Center with an accessible
outdoor space that can equally support classroom instruction and
public gathering at the new east entrance.
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The sustainability list you provided is good. Other
Seattle school projects have had environmental issues related to
indoor air quality, what are you doing to address this at Nathan
Hale? Are you going for LEED certification?
The project is being designed according to the Washington
Sustainable Schools Protocol (WSSP). The point system for WSSP is
similar to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Silver.
Regarding indoor air quality (IAQ), the District is committed to
maintaining good air quality both during construction and occupancy
of a new space. To ensure that the air quality is healthy for new
occupants, the District follows a rigorous protocol. First, the
designers and furniture buyers strive to select finish materials
and furnishings with low emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds
(VOCs) and formaldehyde. Second, the District has a rigorous air
flushing protocol that requires at least five days of flushing new
spaces with continuous 100% outside air, followed by a two-week
flush before occupancy. Third, the air will be tested by a
professional consultant before occupancy for VOCs, formaldehyde,
Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide, and airborne particulates.
The District will also test all domestic water fixtures prior to
opening to ensure that fixtures meet the District standards for
drinking water quality.
During construction, the occupied areas will be separated from
construction areas with fire-rated partitions. The construction
areas will be negatively pressured during abatement and
dust-generating activities to keep particulates from entering
occupied areas.
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How will the geothermal heat source work?
The design team is pursuing a geothermal system to heat and cool
the spaces in Project 1. A geothermal system uses the ground to
transfer heat to and from the building through a closed water loop
system where the ground temperature is fairly consistent??compared
to the less efficient air to air heat pump system where the outdoor
air temperature??varies. In the winter the heat pump removes heat
from the ground and transfers it to the building via a closed loop
water system. This processed is reversed in the summer for cooling.
The U.S. EPA has called geothermal the most energy efficient,
environmentally clean system available. The vertical well field
would be located in the East entry plaza/parking area.
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Will there be plans for the science labs?
The renovated project will have eight District-standard science
labs in the renovated project.
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How does the District go about designing the
schools?
Design is an iterative process that relies on guidance from the
School Design Team (SDT), District administrators and operations
staff, school staff, parents, and the community. The project is
being designed according to a new District Educational
Specification that establishes minimum design standards for all
District high schools.
The design team meets regularly with the School Design Team
(SDT), a group of approximately 25 people that includes teachers,
staff, parents, neighbors, and students. The SDT provides general
design guidance for the project. The SDT has also visited other
projects to learn about design trends.
As the process moves into the more detailed phases, the design
team will arrange to meet with user groups designated by the school
administration that is representative of each program at Hale.
Currently, the Architects are focusing on user group meetings with
the occupants of Project 1; the LRC, Visual Arts, Communications
(KNHC) and the Fitness Center.
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What will the student population be during
construction? The SEPA checklist on the website is planned for 1400
students; this is not consistent with the Hale academic delivery
which is more appropriate for the current student population.
The current capacity of the existing school building is
approximately 1,400 students and the new project is designed to
support this projected enrollment. Hence, the environmental
documents like the SEPA checklist must plan on up to 1,400 students
even though the current enrollment is approximately 1,060. The
renovated school building will be very similar in size to the
existing school building in terms of total square footage and
number of teaching stations, so enrollment increases would
primarily be accommodated through scheduling changes or increased
classroom utilization.
It is anticipated that enrollment won???t change significantly
during construction.
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I thought this project was just a modernization.
Where are the new students going?
See response to Question #7 above
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What about temporary parking impacts and contractor
parking?
The property currently has 284 onsite parking stalls. Onsite
parking will be displaced during construction because of temporary
classroom portables and the general contractors will use the East
parking area throughout construction for staging and deliveries.
During Project 1, approximately 78 onsite parking stalls will be
displaced from the East lot and south student lot. During Project 2
the displaced onsite parking will vary from approximately 58 to 130
stalls, depending on the phase.
Considering the Traffic and Parking study completed by Mirai
Transportation, there is an average daytime surplus of 72 stalls
onsite and over 250 unoccupied stalls on surrounding streets within
one block. The displaced parking during construction would be
accommodated onsite, on surrounding streets, or at the Summit K-12
parking lot.
The contractors will have between 20 and 100 workers onsite
during the project. Contractors will not be allowed to park in
staff or student lots. Contractor worker parking is proposed in
their staging area in the East lot and on nearby streets, most
likely 110th Street to the north.
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What is access to fields during Project 1?
Access to the athletic fields will be maintained through the
South student parking lot during Project 1.
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Will there be a new darkroom in Project 1?
Yes, the design team is meeting with the visual arts teachers
and a darkroom is proposed for the new 2D art classroom.
Based on the SEPA Checklist, up to 24 temporary portables are
proposed. Where will they be located?
We estimate that during Project 2, Phase 2a, up to 24 temporary
portables will be required for classrooms. The which building
department ??? City of Seattle? Building Department will not allow
temporary portables within the 75-foot Riparian Management Area
along the South Branch of Thornton Creek, so temporary portables
are proposed in the Southeast parking lot (2), the South student
parking lot (16), and the northwest staff parking lot (6) all
outside of the 75-foot buffer.
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What is the reason for adding landscaping behind
the grandstand area where there is currently asphalt and a
basketball court and parking? The parking departure letter noted
that the proposed project was requesting a departure for 21 parking
stalls. Should existing parking behind the grandstand be retained
to mitigate this shortage?
The city land use code requires approximately 29 more onsite
parking stalls because the student commons (i.e. cafeteria) is
being expanded. We will be adding approximately 5 more stalls to
the site, so must request a departure for 24 parking stalls that
will not be added to the site. There is a public meeting planned
for Thursday, March 13 to present the departure request to a
committee convened by the City of Seattle, who will make a
recommendation to grant or not grant the departure to the building
department. Update this ??? ???was held??? and state outcome.
The area you are asking about is within the 100-foot Riparian
Management buffer along the South Branch of Thornton Creek. The
City limits development within this buffer. The District has a
long-term commitment to incrementally improve the Thornton Creek
buffer by removing impervious surface and replacing with pervious
and landscaped areas. As part of this project we are removing
approximately 10,000 net square feet of impervious surface, the
majority of which is within the creek buffer. At the Southeast
parking area and the south entrance we are proposing to remove
asphalt and replace with native plants landscaping. We are also
restoring approximately 500 feet of the creek to native plantings.
Parking could be kept in this area, but this would have
implications on our overall design for the creek buffer and would
only gain approximately 15 more onsite stalls.
We will propose plants and trees that allow for visual
monitoring. We???ll review further with the School Design Team, the
school Safety and Security Committee, and the District safety and
security department.
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What are you doing with all the rain water?
The new building additions require storm water detention; in
lieu of an underground concrete vault, the design team is proposing
an underground perforated pipe system (location TBD) to allow for a
slow-release of storm water into the local city storm system during
major storm events. As an existing condition, the existing building
does not require storm water detention. However, improvements to
the drainage system within the North courtyard that flooded on
December 3, 2007 are proposed. Also, the removal of approximately
10,000 square feet of impervious surface should reduce the amount
of storm water that the school discharges into the city system.
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Is there a plan to use a grey water system?
No, we are not planning to install a grey water system at this
time. The new plumbing fixtures will meet or exceed code for
reducing water usage.
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Who do we contact if there is a problem at the
construction site?
Contact Earl Edwards, Project Engineer at 252-0702 or Ian Kell,
Project Manager at 206-679-4869.
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How are you proposing to heat the building and
domestic water?
We are proposing two new high-efficiency natural gas boilers to
heat the water for most of the building heating system. Depending
on further discussions with Puget Sound Energy, we may be able to
eliminate a backup fuel source for these boilers. If not, the
boilers would have a propane tank for backup fuel. We are also
exploring a geothermal well system to heat the spaces in Project 1.
For domestic hot water, we are proposing new high-efficiency gas
water heaters.
-
Suggestion to utilize solar power for photovoltaic
electricity and/or domestic hot water.
The District does not currently have a standard to install and
support solar power as part of capital projects. Based on initial
studies by a student working on this for a Senior Project, the
payback period for photovoltaic power is very long, possibly over
80 years, mainly because power is relatively inexpensive in this
region and photovoltaics are expensive. Note that Seattle City
Light is also carbon neutral.
The design team will continue to work with the student and
explore options for using solar power for electricity or heating,
or as a demonstration for learning opportunities.
