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High Profile Monthly

The Perfect Classroom is Formally Launched

November 2008- Wayland, MA - Architecture Involution LLC (Ai3) and Triumph Modular announced the formal launch of the CASE 21 classroom solution - a high-performance learning environment employing state-of-the art green design, organizational layout, and technology integration.

CASE 21 (Creative Academic Sustainable Environments for the 21st Century) was conceived by Ai3 as an answer to the thousands of poorly designed classrooms that are constructed each year in the United States.

"Before they crack a single book, many students across America are being put at a disadvantage because the classrooms they are trying to learn in work against them," said Scott Dunlap, co-founder and partner at Ai3. "Many typical classrooms - as currently designed - ignore the positive effects that day lighting, ventilation, air quality, acoustics, sightlines, technology integration, sound reinforcement and other key factors have on learning. We have been incorporating these positive effects into our design philosophy for several years and the results are undeniable. Students learn better, smarter and faster in these environments."

CASE 21 employs Ai3's advanced understanding of the ideal learning environment to address these factors and maximize the benefits of smart classroom design: Integrated technologies to provide students and their educators the most effective new learning tools; proper use of natural daylight; ventilation systems designed for optimum air quality; and the most finely tuned acoustics and sightlines.

In addition, CASE 21 integrates the most advanced principles of green, sustainable design to maximize energy efficiency, minimize environmental impact, and provide a classroom setting that is genuinely healthy. Ai3 partner and cofounder Jim Jordan, who is credited with having designed the widely acclaimed Massachusetts School Building Authority Model School (Whitman-Hanson Regional High School), has led the design charge regarding green design, sustainability, and LEED certification for the CASE 21 project.

"The CASE 21 classroom itself - in many ways - can be a learning tool as applied to sustainable design principles, environmental responsibility, and the effective use of technology," said Dunlap. "Above all, our kids deserve the best chance we can give them at being successful in school. The research is pretty conclusive that the more healthy and comfortable a classroom environment, the better that students and teachers will perform."

CASE 21 is being launched at a time when school districts across the country are coping with the challenge of addressing their facility needs. The traditional answer, however, has been substandard temporary educational space (for meeting short-term enrollment bulges), or complex major construction projects (for long-term needs) that often require a five- to seven year timetable and the inevitable problem of cost overruns.

CASE 21 combines the most advanced principles of design for the ideal learning environment with the rapid-delivery, cost-control benefits of modular construction. The CASE 21 classroom solution is constructed completely off-site, in a climate-controlled environment that virtually eliminates delays or other obstacles related to weather, site disruption or other factors. Installation is executed by the most experienced technicians in the modular industry. The construction and installation process was developed based on years of research and practical experience at Triumph Modular - the nation's leading provider of high-quality permanent and temporary modular buildings for education, health care, and other key economic sectors. "Scott Dunlap and his partners at Ai3 have designed the perfect classroom. What we have is the perfect system for building and delivering it, on time and on budget, to the exact specifications for any school district," said Cliff Cort, president and CEO of Triumph Modular. "Many communities are in crisis over the challenge of meeting their school facility needs. CASE 21 allows them to create the most outstanding learning environment available for their students, while avoiding the time delay and cost overrun headaches that have traditionally defined school construction projects."