Newton Oak Hill Middle School

Newton Oak Hill Middle School

High-Performance/Green Schools are healthy and productive environments. They are also cost-effective facilities that conserve energy, use renewable resources, and have lower annual utility and operating costs. The City of Newton emphasized reaping the benefits of a sustainable, high-efficiency modular building for a classroom expansion at Oak Hill Middle School. The City of Newton conveys that sustainability matters by funding and constructing this building.

In general, this Modular Classroom Building was designed to meet the goals of Massachusetts High-Performance Schools Protocols (MA CHPS), including integrating “Air Barrier” construction, daylight harvesting, minimized HVAC systems, and many other “Green” features. An integrated life cycle analysis informed system selections to ensure maximized efficiency.

The ability to relocate one or more of these classrooms over time will maximize their utilization. Relocation will also minimize the risk that one or more of what might have been four permanent classrooms would go unused or be underutilized after this short-term enrollment “blip” at Oak Hill passes. If one or more of these classrooms is relocated to another city school in the future, the savings in capital construction will be significant.

Foundations were poured below grade to accommodate the move, and an air barrier was installed between each classroom so that these classrooms could be sealed up easily and it would not affect the integrity of the airtightness of the remaining portion of the modular building.