PROJECT MISSION
We tell children how important education is to their future, and yet we allow them to study in poorly lit, poorly ventilated, poorly maintained facilities. Commercial buildings provide bright, comfortable, clean, inviting spaces. Malls and supermarkets offer sanitary restrooms, modern furnishings, and advanced technology. Since education is truly a social priority, our schools deserve this same attention to construction and design.
Unfortunately, our children are using less than adequate school facilities. The complexity of the building process has undoubtedly played a role, as planning and construction involve a confusing array of actors and agencies. However, even after their approval, school plans may include costly omissions and inefficiencies in design.
Excellence in Educational Facilities aims to provide the information necessary to make effective planning decisions. Good planning is critical for the success of any project, and good planning begins with good information.
Contents
While excellence is hard to define in the abstract, it manifests itself in buildings designed and constructed with attention to planning, and in which the public can take pride. No building, however, stands in isolation from its surroundings. Excellence therefore requires consideration of the social and environmental context in which a structure exists.
Specifically, each school faces unique demands in adapting to the needs of the community it serves. As a result, the best learning environments will reflect input in a thoughtfully coordinated planning process.
Excellence in Educational Facilities approaches these issues in seven parts:
- Creating Legacy Facilities" presents design features for inclusion in any long-range planning. It also discusses the evolving role of schools in communities and the importance of involving the public in the planning process.
- Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness in Design" introduces life cycle costing and sustainability as alternatives to short-term budgeting. It also includes insight into cost-saving measures and project delivery alternatives.
- "Planning & Teamwork for Success" moves from why excellence is important to how to achieve it. It examines the details of project execution, from the earliest development stages to the breaking of the ground.
- "Design to Maximize Student Performance" looks into creating spaces conducive to learning. This includes lighting, acoustics, air quality, and other indoor environmental factors relevant to student success.
- "New Directions in School Facilities" explores new approaches and emerging research in the design and arrangement of school facilities, including specific examples of construction innovation.
- "Asset Management" considers means of protecting our investment in school facilities, including tools like benchmarking and Facility Performance Review.
- "Design to Maximize Student Safety" discusses the traditional and basic principles of student safety embodied in the Field Act, and the roles schools play as a refuge in time of crisis, as well as the new security concerns schools share with other public facilities.
Excellence is a matter of looking beyond the initial effort and expense to the long-term rewards. It takes planning, teamwork, community involvement, and it requires never losing sight of the ultimate goal: improving the quality of education.
These materials are designed as a guide through the complex process of school planning, design, and construction. Bear in mind that no two projects are identical; some information may not seem directly pertinent to your particular needs.
History
EIPB - Excellence in Public Educational Facilities is an outgrowth of the DGS Excellence in Public Buildings (EIPB) program. EIPB was developed with representatives of industry, commerce, and government to help the State improve the quality of public buildings. California has an enormous investment in public buildings, and EIPB aims to preserve it.
This Excellence web site is an attempt by the Division of the State Architect (DSA) to frame the EIPB concepts in a manner relevant to the unique needs of schools and the educational process. It is an outreach to decision makers and school districts to help them understand and hopefully to apply the benefits of the DGS Excellence program to their own current and especially future construction projects.
- JoAnn Koplin |
