Napa High School Project Aims for High Performance Standards

A new high school being built in California’s Napa Valley will be one of the country’s first to be a Collaborative for High Performance School or verified “green” school.

The CHPS program helps communities design and build high-performance school environments that are not only energy and resource efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities for a quality education.

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Designed by Santa Rosa-based Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, the American Canyon High School will house 2,200 students and is scheduled for completion in fall 2010.

The general contractor on the 258,000-sq-ft campus is Lathrop Construction of Benicia.

The school is organized around an elliptical campus green flanked by four Small Learning Communities, each with its own smaller courtyard. The small learning communities will ensure that students have a stronger sense of belonging, while teachers and administrators are better able to offer personalized academic and emotional support. Across the campus green will be an elliptical library and administration building, flanked by a theater and gymnasium, which make up the public front to the campus. 

The high school will incorporate numerous innovative sustainable design elements. It will include a 500 Kw photovoltaic solar array that will provide more than 40 percent of the campus’ electricity. It will also use an advanced ground source heat pump mechanical system, extensive daylighting controls, many sustainable materials and numerous water conservation measures.  QKA used the ArchiCAD model throughout the length of the project to design and document the school, coordinate the design with engineers and consultants, create presentation renderings and drawings, and perform energy and daylighting analysis, according to Aaron Jobson, an architect at QKA.

“American Canyon High School was designed to incorporate state of the art technology and educational philosophy,” Jobson says. “The 3D capabilities of ArchiCAD were essential to the successful realization of this design. The school was also designed to embrace sustainability. QKA used ArchiCAD to synthesize these ideas into a dynamic campus that will be an excellent example of sustainable design.” 

The CHPS program began two years ago to address the state’s aging school infrastructure. More than 30% of existing facilities need a major renovation. At the same time, California schools are spending nearly $700 million on energy—more than the combined cost of supplies and books—in a time of rising concern over energy supplies and tight school budgets.

CHPS guides the state’s school districts in building the next generation of schools -- facilities that improve the learning environment while saving energy, resources, and money.

High performance schools achieve these goals by using a whole building, integrated design strategy that incorporates the best of today’s ideas and technologies. From the beginning of the design process, each of the building elements (windows, walls, building materials, air-conditioning, landscaping, etc.) is considered part of an integrated system of interacting components. Choices in one area often affect other building systems; integrated design leverages these interactions to maximize the overall building performance.
CHPS goals include:

• Increase student performance with better-designed and healthier facilities,
• Raise awareness of the impact and advantages of high performance schools,
• Provide professionals with better tools to facilitate effective design, construction and maintenance of high performance schools,
• Increase school energy and resource efficiency, and
• Reduce peak electric loads.

Officers for the nonprofit program include Chip Fox, chair, from San Diego Gas & Electric; Gregg Ander, FAIA, vice chair, from Southern California Edison; Angelo Bellomo, treasurer, from Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; and John Palmer, secretary, from San Juan Unified School District.

Board and advisory members include many state architects, including Stephen Castellanos of NTD Stichler, Rob Samish of Lionakis Beaumont Design Group, Richard Conrad of Division of the State Architect, and Brian Paul Dougherty, FAIA, of Dougherty & Dougherty.

Other CHPS projects that are in progress include Adelante High School in Roseville, Burbank Elementary School in Santa Rosa, Chabot and Cox elementary schools in Oakland, Kenilworth Junior High School in Petaluma, Natomas Creekside Learning Center in Sacramento and the Will C. Wood High School new science wing in Vacaville.

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