Ultra-Low Energy School Case Study: Georgina Blach Intermediate School

Case Study / December 13, 2016 / Getting to Zero

The Georgina Blach Intermediate School, part of the Los Altos School District, Iocated in Los Altos, California, serves 450 students in seventh and eighth grades. Facilities at the school were unimproved since their construction in 1958, 1962-63 and 1978 and in need of significant upgrades. The 2002 retrofit project included complete infrastructure replacement, modernization of existing buildings and replacement of temporary structures with new construction. In 2002, the district completed a renovation project to demolish 10,000 square feet of the original school and expand the remaining 34,000-square-foot facility to 71,500 square feet, as well as modernize nine of the existing buildings. The expansion involved construction of three new classroom buildings, a performing arts building, and a gymnasium. The modernization project included the library, multi-purpose building, administration building, and four classroom buildings. The Blach School was also a pilot project for the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) and is an exemplary building which employs strong fundamental design principles to limit energy consumption.

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