1. 2011 Critical Facilities Issues
Summit
March 31, 2011
Carl T. Thurnau and Facilities
Staff

2. Current Status
• Backlog Architects: 7 weeks
Engineers: 14 weeks
• 1,281 approved projects from &/1/09 to
6/30/10 with a value of $2.05B ROS
• Total staff of 15

3. Current Status
• We currently have no dedicated personnel
for:
• Fire safety,
• Safety and health,
• Final cost report auditing,
• Certificates of Occupancy,
• And Carl has no administrative assistant.

4. Hot Topics!
• Folding Partitions – alleged widespread
noncompliance with Commissioner’s
Regulation 155.25. Lawsuit to be
defended by Attorney General’s office

5. Hot Topics!
• Chapter 85 of the Laws of 2010.
• PESTICIDE PROHIBITION AND EXCEPTIONS:
Schools and day care centers are prohibited
from using pesticides on playgrounds (includes
playground equipment), turf, and athletic or
playing fields.

6. Last year’s critical summit

7. Surviving This Economic
Climate
School Facilities Training Summit
Thursday March 26, 2009
Presented by:
Carl T. Thurnau, P.E.
Facilities Planning Coordinator
Charles A. Szuberla
Executive Director
School Operations and Management Services
New York State Education Department

8. Last year we went:
“BACK TO BASICS:”
• 5 YEAR CAPITAL PLAN
• AVI
• UPCOMING BCS

9. This year: Back to Basics again!
CR155.1 - Educational facilities
(1971)
• Facilities shall be designed and
constructed to provide for the health and
safety of occupants, with consideration of
educational and planning efficiency,
conservation of natural resources,
practicality, and initial and long-range
economy, and shall support an
environment within the facility which is
conducive to learning.

10. New York’s
high performance
school design process
NY-CHPS

11. CHPS BEST PRACTICES
MANUAL – M & O, 2004
• Introduction:
“A high performance school starts with an
energy and resource efficient design, but
without effective maintenance and
operations (M&O) many of the benefits
can be lost or eroded over time.”

12. CHPS BEST PRACTICES
MANUAL – M & O, 2004
• Introduction:
• Human Health and IAQ,
• Thermal comfort
• Visual comfort
• Acoustic comfort

13. CHPS BEST PRACTICES
MANUAL – M & O, 2004
• Introduction continued:
• Safety and security
• Ecosystem protection
• Energy efficiency including day lighting,
electrical lighting, building enclosure, and HVAC
systems
• Water conservation
• Materials efficiency

14. Health and IAQ
• Per US EPA- Concentration of pollutants can be
2-5 times higher in indoor air.
• Unique susceptibility of Children
• Failure to maintain high IAQ can lead to:
negative student performance, negative teacher
performance, higher potential for long and short
term health issues, higher absenteeism,
accelerated facility deterioration, reduced plant
efficiency, negative publicity, and greater liability.

15. How to efficiently combat those
complex problems?
• Nothing exists in isolation. Look at the global
problem in terms of a global solution.
• Try self diagnostic tools for schools
• Provide the appropriate air changes per code for
the use of the space
• Select materials/maintenance products with low
VOC’s or Toxins.
• Staff training for new products (or even old
products!)
• Replace filters on appropriate schedule

16. How to efficiently combat those
complex problems?
• Work with teachers and purchasing: art
supplies, cleaning supplies, chemistry
biology supplies, wood shops and wood
finishing, welding shops, etc.
• Check temperatures, CO, CO2 levels,
humidity, mold, etc as necessary
• Re-balance the entire HVAC every 5
years? Look into doing as part of the
BCS?

17. CHPS BEST PRACTICES
MANUAL – M & O, 2004
• Facilities management
• “A district wide plan for maintenance and
operations is essential”

18. Sounds like?
• Commissioner’s regulation section
155.4(d)(2)
Comprehensive Maintenance Plan!

19. Other critical Chapters in the Best
Practices Manual:
• Equipment procurement
• Building envelope
• Electrical systems and lighting
• HVAC and mechanical equipment
• Plumbing
• Recycling and waste management
• Cleaning practices and products
• Landscaping
• Snow Management and de-icing

20. RESOURCES?
• US Dept of Energy, energy smart schools,
• National clearinghouse for educational
facilities
• National Clearinghouse for educational
statistics
• ASBO International
• American school and University,
• Search of NCES Yields additional
resources such as:………….

21. RESOURCES?
• New York State Association for Superintendents of School
Buildings and Grounds
http://sbga.org/Active state-wide organization with local chapters,
training publications and videos, conferences, job-bank, directory
and buyers guide.
• New York State Education Department, Office of Facilities
Planning
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/facplan/This office of the New York
State Education department coordinates statewide planning, design,
and construction for New York Public Schools. This ....

22. Further evidence of the benefit of
High Performance - Green Schools
Green Schools as High Performance Learning Facilities,
Douglas E. Gordon, Hon. AIA dated September 2010.
• Compiled studies from Illinois; Washington, D.C.; Washington sta
Oregon; Pennsylvania and North Carolina and found that:
• Student attendance rose by 5 percent after cost effective indoor
air quality improvements,
• Better school facilities can add 3 to 4 percentage points to a
school’s standardized test scores, even after controlling for
demographics,

23. Green Schools as High Performance Learning Facilities
• Green schools effected a 15 percent reduction in
absenteeism and 5 percent increase in student test
scores,
• Students moving into a new green school experienced a
15 percent reduction in absenteeism from their previous
school.

24. Green Schools as High Performance Learning Facilities
• Students moving from a conventional school to a new
LEED™ Gold building experienced substantial
improvements in health and a 19 percent increase in
average student oral reading fluency scores, and
• Student test scores before and after students moved
into the country’s first LEED Gold K-12 school provided
compelling evidence that learning and test scores
improve in greener, healthier buildings. (Kats,2006)

25. Direction of Facilities Planning
• Review the Regents State aid proposal
• Review the Governor’s proposed budget
• Review Commissioner’s regulation 155.23
**** Multi- year cost allowance****
• Minimum useful life questions
Examples: Roofs, heating systems, turf

26. Direction of Facilities Planning
• Minimum time between MCA’s?
5 years to correspond with the BCS data
• Review of State Aid impacts and local tax
impacts? E.g.: are you asking to build new
space while at the same time laying off
teachers and maintenance?

27. Direction of Facilities Planning
• Does it make common sense?
If the only reason for doing a project is
that someone else is paying the bulk of the
cost, then keep looking for someone else!
• Does it make fiscal sense for all
concerned? Eg: Biomass boiler systems
that require significant construction to
house the equipment……..

28. Regents Mandate Relief
• Proposal to eliminate the AVI
• Eliminate compliance with “Smart Growth”
• Eliminate the school facilities report card
• Eliminate state reporting requirements for
AHERA
• Avoid HUD, go with EPA for Lead

29. Mt. Vernon HS Auditorium

30. Where is the Rooftop unit?

31. Penetration through roof

32. Hole large enough for mini bus

33. Stone lintel Crushed student desk

34. Let’s not forget the routine issues!
Fire safety is job 1 everyday!

35. Office of Facilities Planning
www.emsc.nysed.gov/facplan
(518) 474-3906