What Do you get when you move the staff from several separate office buildings and put them under one roof?
You get an Earth-friendly working environment where employees can use their legs to walk down the hall for a meeting instead of their cars to drive across the city.
You get a place where half of the amount of gas and electricity is consumed.
And you get a long-term, forward-thinking facility that goes a long way in helping the Surrey School District become carbon-neutral.
The District Education and Conference Centre (DECC), now under construction at 92 Avenue and 140 Street, is due to open early next year.
When complete, the four-storey building will house about 475 staff members, people who are currently in seven different offices in different parts of Surrey.
In addition to annual operating cost savings on office leases, travel time, and multiple energy bills, the addition of the DECC building means the district will not have to maintain and upgrade the various aging facilities.
The centre’s plan is one that is green by nature.
“This particular building, the way it’s designed is going to be one of the most efficient mechanical systems,” says Dick Koch, capital construction coordinator for the Surrey School District. “It’s unique.”
Like Surrey’s newly opened Woodward Hill Elementary, DECC utilizes a geothermal heating system, drawing heat from the earth and circulating it throughout the building.
As well, the 11,662-square-metre building has a so-called “curtain wall glazing system” featuring numerous thermal glass windows and many skylights for natural light and a highly insulated “green” roof.
There is also a solar system consisting of 10 panels on the roof that will heat the water going to taps.
“It won’t boil, but it will make them warmer ... it gets a boost from solar energy,” explains Koch.
The facility is being built to the LEED Gold standard required for new B.C. public buildings. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized rating system for a building’s environmental impact. For the DECC, a mechanical consultant calculated the district’s carbon reduction at 62.5 per cent, along with a reduction in gas and electricity costs of 54.7 per cent.
The $40-million building is being paid for without provincial government help through district-generated funds from things such as facility rental and international student fees. While the cost is significant, the district estimates it will save about $1.5 million annually just by consolidating staff and services in one location (an estimated $750,000 per year in lease payments and $500,000 in energy expenditures – including the cost for staff to travel between offices).
Construction began about a year ago and DECC is expected to be ready for staff to move in by early 2011.
From the
Surrey Leader
