Completed New Building - The Renaissance Academy (LEED Gold)
Grades 6-12
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Construction Start Date August 2007 |
| Groundbreaking October 17, 2007 |
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| Owner Occupancy September 2009 |
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| Building Dedicated November 6, 2010 |
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| Download Images of School |
Building Facts
| Student Capacity: | 1,600 (maximum) |
| Grades Housed: | 6-12 |
| Site Acreage: | 16 |
| Square footage: | 289,000 sq.ft. |
| Cost of Construction: | $66 million |
| Architect: | RRMM Architects |
| Contractor: | W.M. Jordan Company, Inc. |
Building Awards
- 2010 Stewardship Recognition Award (City of Virginia Beach, City Manager’s Office)
- 2010 Best Institutional Project (Virginia Sustainable Building Network)
- 2009 Sustainable Development Honor Award (Virginia Beach Planning Commission)
Building Features
The Renaissance Academy is Virginia Beach City Public Schools' new alternative education center serving students in grades 6-12 and was selected as the 2010 Best Green Institutional Project by the Virginia Sustainable Building Network.
- Height: Two-story
- Construction: Load bearing CMU walls with steel joist floor and roof framing
- Exterior envelope: Brick veneer, metal wall panel and aluminum curtain wall glazing, classroom
day lighting, and modified bitumen roofing - Interior walls: Metal stud with abuse resistant gypsum board
- Ceilings: Acoustical tile
- Flooring: Epoxy terrazzo, carpet, ceramic tile
- HVAC: Water source heat pumps with geothermal wells (no cooling tower or boiler)
- Plumbing: Roof drains to cistern; cistern water used for toilet flushing; no-flush urinals
- Project achieved USGBC LEED Gold rating.
The facility houses a museum exhibit for the Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville School (PACTS/UKHS) . After integration of schools in 1969, PACTS/UKHS closed, and its students and staff transferred to other high schools in Virginia Beach.
Unique environmental features that, by design and program area, will make the Renaissance Academy the first building of this type in the entire United States.
- This project has earned a USGBC LEED (United States Green Building Council, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating. LEED recognizes achievements and promotes expertise in green building through a comprehensive system offering project certification, professional accreditation, training and practical resources. LEED provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals. Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
- Based on research, this is the first school building of this type in the country. This building is unique due to its design and academic programs that are contained within the building.
- This school is the first building in our school division to use rainwater reclamation for toilet flushing. A rainwater collection system collects water from the roof and stores it in a 50,000 gallon cistern so water can be used for flushing toilets. This allows the school to save approximately 3.8 million gallons of treated water per year.
- A geothermal heat pump (522 wells, each 400 feet deep) was installed for heating and cooling. This is an efficient means of heating and cooling a building by using ground water.
- A portion of the roof -- 16,000 square feet -- is “green”. Grass planted on a portion of the roof decreases heating and cooling costs and reduces the amount of runoff that is channeled into the city’s storm water system. It also has the potential to last more than 50 years without replacement.
- Solar collectors are installed on the roof to heat hot water in the school’s kitchen.
- Daylit spaces are supplemented with dimming ballast electric lighting that have photo sensor and occupancy sensor controls.
- Photovoltaic cells installed in the building put electricity back in the electricity grid. The grid is the network which we “pull” electricity from Virginia Dominion Power. This will allow us to actually “farm” electricity for the electrical company.
- Typically, mechanical rooms are tucked away in a dark corner of our schools. However, the school's mechanical room serves as a teaching tool. Students are able to visibly see how the building operates through a window.
- An inter-active kiosk is installed in the school lobby to allow so students and staff the ability to monitor energy consumption.
Contacts
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Mr. Anthony L. Arnold
Director of Facilities Planning and Construction
757.263.1090
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Mr. Tim Cole
Sustainable Schools Project Manager
757.263.1090
