Building the Next Generation of Architects
July 2010

As the workforce of the architecture, construction and engineering industries ages and shrinks with each passing year, encouraging students to pursue careers in the building design industry has become a challenge.  With the goal of supporting and encouraging design students firmly in mind, the Board of Directors of the Virginia Chapter of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International have added an exciting component to its annual conference agenda.  Architecture students from three major Virginia universities will compete in an educational facility design challenge.

Fourth year students from Hampton University, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia will participate in this contest during the fall semester of 2010.  The challenge?  Convert an abandoned existing shopping center, commonly known as a “big box”, into a small high school.  Vacant buildings of this type dot our landscape, and have often been used as schools in emergency situations or where economies drive the need for their use.  A school program and existing building data will be provided to students along with their competition guidelines.  Additionally, mentorship teams—comprised of esteemed university faculty, licensed architects who specialize in educational facility design and educational facility managers who maintain and manage the planning of new school facilities for major Virginia school divisions—will assist each university’s team of design students. These volunteer mentors will offer students insights into educational facility planning and provide critical reviews during the design process.

Criteria for selecting the competition winners includes:  Creativity, Learning Enhancement Potential, Educational Functionality, Presentation Quality and Sustainability.  First, Second and Honorable Mention awards will be given at each school, with winning entries exhibited at the VEFP annual conference in February, 2011.  First place winners from each school will receive scholarships in the form of cash prizes, plus an expenses-paid trip to the conference where they will present their design.

The Board of Directors eagerly awaits the concepts the students will offer and the fresh planning ideas that are unique to a student’s perspective.  We are proud of the diversity of participation that already exists within our membership, but also look forward to encouraging more participation from college and university faculty and students.  VEFP hopes that the success of the competition will encourage future design challenges, making this event an integral part of conferences to come and highlighting the creative talents of Virginia students.

Duane Harver is Chairman of the Board of Directors for RRMM Architects, Director of the firm’s K-12 Design Studio, and a Board of Director with the Virginia Chapter of CEFPI.

 

Creating a Comprehensive & Sustainable Recycling Program: How this School Division Created its Recycling Program
June 2010

In 2007, the perfect “recycling” storm formed within Stafford County Public Schools.  First, there was a strong desire and passion fermenting at the schools and with staff to have and benefit from a comprehensive recycling program.  Second, a division wide re-organization was initiated resulting in a “bottom-up” review of programs, policies and regulations.  Third, the School Board reaffirmed its strong support of responsible environmental stewardship.  These three actions were galvanized into a single focus by the actions of a 17 year old high school junior who confronted the elected school board challenging them with his passion and enthusiasm for resource conservation and expressing shock and bewilderment as to why the division had no apparent recycling program --- The Perfect Storm.

The seed was planted.  Upon direction from the School Board, the Superintendent appointed Facilities Services as the focal point for the division’s program and directed that a comprehensive and sustainable plan be developed and implemented.  Upon initial research, we realized that this new initiative was actually an old initiative that had run out of energy and focus.  We discovered that in the mid to late 1990s the School Division through guidance and mandates from the state had established a recycling program throughout the Division.  This program had deployed recycling dispensers and arranged for separate “cardboard only” dumpsters at each school.  In the early 2000s, except for a few fragmented fund raising recycling efforts, it appeared our recycling program had lost focus and essentially died.  A combination of factors converged to create this environment including the removal of recycling requirements from the refuse service provider contract and an overall lack of program leadership, energy and focus. 

In 2007, shortly after the formation of the “perfect recycling storm”, Facilities Services took action.   Our first step was to initiate research and find out what types of recycling initiatives, if any, were happening in our schools, at other school divisions, in the local community and within the state.  We formed a small working group made up of Facilities Services personnel to develop a “roadmap” for the program.  In November 2007, this working group quickly grew in size to included representatives from most of the school division departments, select schools, the local landfill, our refuse provider (Waste Management) and our in-house and contracted custodians and was renamed the Recycling Committee.  The relationships established in this early planning period not only with our refuse service provider and local landfill representatives, but with the Virginia Recycling Association, were essential in helping us nurture our growing program. We quickly developed the outline of a roadmap/action plan that included the development of a policy to authorize the program and a management plan to execute the program.   Knowing the management plan development would take time and not wanting to wait to start affecting change, the Recycling Committee established initial goals and tasks including adopting the “crawl, walk, run” mind set for the program. 

The Committee’s first priority was to establish a no frills-basic recycling program throughout the division consisting of recycling paper, plastics and other common recyclable material.  The “Crawl” - six schools and the School Board Office volunteered to be part of a six month short-term pilot program to help the Committee understand the true requirements of the program. Three critical functional areas to be known as the “Recycling Triad” were needed to make the recycling program work. The producers - students/teachers/staff disposing of the material properly, the collectors – custodians collecting it and getting it to the right dumpster, and the transporters – the contacted refuse service provider picking the material up and transporting it to a regional recycling center.  Each group was critically important to the end result and the failure of one, resulted in the failure of all.

The Recycling Committee met each month to assess the status of the pilot program and to address concerns, successes/failures and make mid-course corrections as appropriate.  The pilot program included two high, middle and elementary schools along with the School Board Office.  At the end of the six month test period the committee evaluated lessons learned and felt confident that a full division implementation was feasible starting in July 2008.  Perhaps “the” key initiative that emerged from the pilot program lessons learned was the value of our refuse service provider and their ability to provide “single stream” recycling to our division. Single stream recycling refers to a collection system in which all recyclable materials (i.e. paper, bottles, cans, etc…) mixed together in a collection container and truck vice kept separate.  Single stream recycling allows
the daily recycling process at each school to be streamlined beginning with the producers (students/teachers/staff), through the collectors (custodians) to the transporters (refuse service provider).  It made it simple and easy.

The “Walk” - in the spring of 2008, the Recycling Committee readied the rest of the school division for the start of a full division wide basic recycling program.  Primary and alternate recycling committee members were selected from each school and department.  Inclusion of these representatives in the monthly committee meetings was critical to prepare them to implement the program and help “sell it” at their school or facility.  Recycling containers were procured and fielded, additional dumpsters were deployed and information disseminated advertising the initiative.  The start date of July 2008 was selected to coincide with the new school year and provided the division and school administrators with roughly 6 weeks to have the infrastructure in place and custodians ready prior to students arriving.

The Committee continued with monthly meetings addressing issues surrounding the division wide implementation.  During this time the program started to look beyond the original program goals.  In January 2009, the committee transitioned from monthly to quarterly meetings.  This frequency appears to be adequate to ensure continued focus and attention is provided to the program. 

The “Run” - as the program matured the committee began to expand its recycling efforts. Some of the additional efforts the Division has been able to implement, address and/or track include:

  1. The ability to record and track refuse and recyclable weights produced at each school or facility.
  2. Providing Recycling Banners for each School.
  3. Establishing an annual recycling awards program at each school level to promote the recycling message including Recycling Video competition, Green Educator of the Year competition and Best School Recycling Rate competition.
  4. Fielding Recycling Posters for all schools and facilities identify what to recycle.
  5. Developing Recycling Tri-Folds providing quick recycling facts about the Division’s Recycling Program.
  6. Establishing an electronic equipment and printer/copier recycling program at each school and facility.
  7. Developing Recycling Academic Lesson Plans for use by teachers.
  8. Establishing a used motor oil re-use program to supplement facility heating.
  9. Enhancing the Division’s document shredding program.
  10. Establishing Division Engineering Design Standards which includes Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification level for all future Capital Improvement Projects.
  11. Formalizing the fluorescent bulb recycling efforts.
  12. Improving recycling efforts within our Food Nutrition operations (cafeterias) to include reducing waste stream and using packaging that is recyclable.
  13. Enhancing Fleet Service’s comprehensive used parts (tires, batteries, brake pads, etc…) recycling program.
  14. Establishing a composting pilot program.
  15. Implementing a recyclable paper procurement policy
  16. Finalizing the Division’s Recycling Management Plan.
  17. Being certified as a Green School Division in 2009 by the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia School Board Association through the Go Green Virginia Challenge

There are still many areas within the Division that may yield recycling opportunities including establishing a viable recycling procedure for all outdoor athletic field venues. The Recycling Committee will continue to strive to find these opportunities as well as strengthen its active programs.  

In 2008, the division was unable to accurately track and record the amount of refuse and recyclable material generated, not to mention what each school generated.  As a result, the division added a requirement to its new refuse service contract for the provider to provide the weight by school and facility of all refuse and recyclable material.  This capability was provided at basically no cost to the division and gave us the ability to have updated date by month information on each school’s trash and recyclable production.  To date the amount of recyclable material captured and diverted from the land fill for the 2009-2010 school year (September 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010) has been 1,308,367 pounds or 31% of the division’s total waste.

Since the formation of Stafford County Public School’s “perfect recycling storm”, movement within the recycling community at the local, regional and state level has increased.  In 2009, the Virginia Municipal League’s Go Green Challenge was expanded to include School Divisions.  Go Green Challenge helps focus localities and now school divisions on green initiatives including recycling programs.  In January 2010, the Virginia Department of Education published non-mandated guidelines for recycling material in public schools.  This guidance has been needed for many years.  Stafford County Public Schools is proud of its recycling program and how it has grown since 2007, however, we are most proud that our program is comprehensive, sustainable and built with a strong foundation to ensure it meets the test of time and change. 

Scott Horan is the Chief Facilities Officer at Stafford County Public Schools and a Board Member with Virginia Chapter of CEFPI.  

Additional Resources:

 

Looking forward after a successful conference
March 2010

I personally want to thank Len Wright and the entire VEFP board for their commitment over the past year.  The board has worked diligently to protect and enhance the spirit of the VEFP organization and will continue these efforts with a strong focus on increasing the awareness of educators, throughout the Commonwealth, on the mission and goals of CEFPI and our state chapter.   Look for VEFP at this year’s VASS and VSBA conferences!

Many thanks to those who contributed to the successful 2010 VEFP conference held in Roanoke, Va. The annual conference attracts a broad-range of professionals who are actively involved in the planning, designing, building, equipping and maintaining of schools and colleges.  The conference provides an opportunity to attend presentations and participate in break-out sessions focused on planning, design, construction and the operation of quality learning environments.  Attendees of the 2010 conference provided positive survey feedback indicating the majority of attendees found great value in attendance and 100% of survey respondents indicated they would recommend the annual conference to a friend or colleague! 

The growing success of the annual conference is largely due to the distinguished group of presenters who have graciously agreed to share their expertise and vision on planning, design, construction, and learning environments.  This year’s conference included keynote presentations on forward-thinking topics such as Rosa Parks School: Rebuilding Community, Education and the Creative Economy, and Community Engagement: Strengthening School Learning Communities.   A very special thank-you to the speakers who traveled from both near and far to participate in the 2010 VEFP annual conference.  As we begin to plan the 2011 conference, please remember that suggestions for both topics and speakers are encouraged.  

I am honored to have been selected to serve as the VEFP Board President and will work to further our mission to, “promote creative and responsible planning of school facilities, to foster professional development, and to exchange best practice knowledge of Virginia school facilities in order to provide the best possible learning environment for all students.” 

Looking forward to a productive 2010!

Sincerely,
Kathleen Langan

 

What is a Capital Improvement?
June 2009

With all the talk lately about federal stimulus money for “shovel-ready” capital improvements, what is a capital improvement?

A public school’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is a management tool for planning major projects that will be needed to house students adequately or to support the educational mission, including the maintenance of facilities.  It is a useful plan to coordinate the location, timing and financing of capital improvements over a multi-year period and refers to major, non-recurring physical expenditures such as land, new construction and equipment. 

A CIP is a comprehensive plan designed to address the need for new construction, renewals of existing facilities, and the upgrading and maintenance of a public school’s infrastructure.  Elements of a CIP typically include the following types of projects:

  • New or expanded physical structures permanent in nature
  • Remodeling or renovation of existing facilities
  • Land acquisition
  • Replacement of mechanical systems, roofs and other large maintenance projects

Planning for capital improvements is an ongoing process.  Prioritizing the work, with the available funding to address the most critical needs, is an ever-present challenge.  Priorities shift as conditions change at individual facilities, as programs and curriculum change and as student population changes.  This working document should be reviewed and updated annually to reflect the changing needs and funding opportunities such as federal stimulus funds.  Projects designed and ready for construction that can receive the stimulus funds, provides an opportunity to advance projects scheduled for later years.  A Capital Improvement Plan should strive to provide safe, healthy and high performing public school facilities.

Maureen Hannan

 

Greetings to all
April 2009

We’ve just finished our 2009 conference in Roanoke.  Despite the weather event, most of the folks who signed up made it to the conference.  Based on comments, emails, and our online evaluation the 2009 conference was a success.  Attendees seemed to have enjoyed our four keynote speakers--Ron Bogle, Frank Kelly, Susan Rundle, and Victoria Bergsagel—our breakout sessions and our charrette, our newest addition.   Many thanks to those of you who responded to our online evaluation.   Several folks took advantage of the survey to offer the board ideas to consider for next year’s 2010 conference.  Planning the mid-year conference and the annual conference will be the main focus of the board over the next several months.  Suggestions for topics and speakers are welcome.   The conference is for you.  Feel free to recommend topics you would like VEFP to address or speakers you would like to hear.

I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage folks to apply for the joint CEFPI-San Diego State University Online Advanced Certificate in Educational Facilities Planning.  The program consists of six graduate level two credit courses.  Each online course is eight weeks in length.  AIA has approved the program for recertification credit.  Students may request 30 hours of credit per course.   All students completing the coursework may apply for REFP status after completing the coursework.  If already an REFP, the courses may be applied to REFP renewal requirements.  I in the program and have found the coursework to be challenging, professionally broadening, and interesting.  There are students in the program from all sides of the facilities equation—architects, engineers, facility planners, educators, finance officers, etc.  Most students had never taken an online course before, but most of us feel it works well.  The online venue gives the students vastly differing perspectives because of the differing backgrounds and differing geographical perspectives.   In my group of 25 students, we have those who hail from about 15 different states, Peru, Australia, and Canada.  Take a moment and click the link below. Check it out.  Take the plunge.  Applications are being accepted for Fall 2009 right now.

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/schoolhouse/Cert/promo.htm

In the months ahead different members of the VEFP board will address various topics of interest to them, to the board, or to the membership.  Keep VEFP and CEFPI in mind and check in from time to time to see what’s new. 

Remember only 11 months to the 2010 conference on February 22-23, 2010 at the Hotel Roanoke.

Sincerely,

Len Wright

 

Please Join Us!
March 2009

We’ve but one week before we convene in Roanoke, and I hope you’re looking forward to the 2009 VEFP conference as much as I am.  The board has assembled an unprecedented line-up of nationally-known provocateurs to complement a host of regional experts.  Our aim is to dig beneath the surface and gain a better understanding of how you – regardless of your seat at the table – impact how teachers teach and children learn.  

To that end our conference will include a new format this year.  There will be four general sessions accompanying our break-outs seminars, and all attendees will have a chance to hear all four of them.  Additionally, our four provocateurs will play a critical role in the conference by leading a collaborative exploration of design issues based on new understandings of how children learn.  We have also effectively opened the annual pre-conference to everyone by extending the conference on the front end at no additional cost.  Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. at the Hotel Roanoke and our opening session will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 2nd.

Complimentary resources will be made available to all attendees.  Our second general session speaker, Susan Rundle, will present a thought-provoking look at ways in which children learn.  To foster a deeper understanding and make this examination more relevant to each of us she has graciously offered to allow each registered attendee to complete the Building Excellence Learning Styles assessment.  That attached document contains instructions for completing the survey along with the website and password you will need in order to access it free of charge.  The results will shed new light on how we plan, design and construct learning environments impacts children’s ability to learn.

If you have not already made your reservation for this exciting conference you can still register on-line.  I hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Bill Bradley

 

Welcome From President Bill Bradley
October 2008

Welcome to the VEFP’s newest member resource – a completely revamped website that’s intended to be a one-stop-shop for all of your facility planning and design needs. 

Take a moment to drill down.  You’ll find everything from information about our parent organization and contact information for Virginia REFPs to recent construction cost data and details about our mid-year seminars.  You’ll also find information about the Board of Directors, past Planners of the Year, and former winners of our architectural design competition.  Finally, you’ll find a library of useful links on just about every related topic under the sun and information about our annual conference.

Speaking of our annual conference, in a relatively short time it has grown from an intimate gathering of a handful of local planners to a regional event that draws 150-plus attendees from school districts and design firms from throughout the mid-Atlantic.  Last year we even drew from Luxembourg!  The success we have enjoyed is directly attributable to the caliber of presenters and provocateurs that have joined us from far afield to bring a broad range of expertise to bear upon the topic of school planning, design and construction. 

In 2009 we hope to elevate the conversation even further. 

The board met last week and set an agenda that will focus on understanding the role that each of us – regardless of where we sit at the table – plays in educating the child.  We are pleased to announce that Harvey Perkins, Susan Rundle and Frank Kelly will be joining us and that every attendee will have an opportunity to hear each speak.  The conference will also include great break-out sessions on topics ranging from net-zero energy schools and learning landscapes to building information modeling (BIM) and an integrated design process (IDP).  Finally, the conference will include a hands-on design charrette allowing each of us to bring our own experience and perspective to bear as we collaborate to create better learning environments for children.

We hope you will join us for our conference.  Further details are forthcoming, but in the meantime mark your calendars for March 2-3, 2009.

We also hope you enjoy this new member resource.  We invite your participation and ask that you send us your feedback and suggestions including suggestions for links to include in our library.

Sincerely,

Bill Bradley