Lebanon Middle School

Lebanon Middle School is currently under construction and slated for its grand opening in the fall of 2012. Construction was started on the $24.9 million, 105,000 square foot facility in February of 2011. The new middle school will be home to nearly 600 students in grades 5 through 8 and will include 30 classrooms plus science labs, a computer lab, a library and media center, as well as a cafeteria with seating for 200 students. The school sits on approximately 26 acres of land which allows enough room for three new full-sized athletic fields to complement the new building.

Project Scope

Yeaton Associates, Inc. was secured to provide mechanical, plumbing and sustainable design services for the 105,000 square foot building. The focus for the design team was adherence to the Northeast Collaborative for High Performance Schools (NECHPS) guidelines, which provides standards for building energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, healthy schools. As a result, energy efficiency and sustainable initiatives were key factors throughout the design process.

Project Result

Recognizing that energy efficiency, sustainable initiatives and adherence to the NECHPS guidelines were important to the new middle school, Yeaton designed a 3.5 million Btuh biomass boiler plant as the means of heat for the facility. As part of the design process, Yeaton studied all available sustainable options including the use of wood chips, pellets and geothermal energy before making a final decision in conjunction with the owner on pellet-fired biomass technology. Additional sustainable features Yeaton incorporated into the Middle School's design include a rainwater reclamation system that directs rainwater through an infiltration system and into a 20,000 gallon underground holding tank for toilet flushing, as well as the use of a solar generated domestic hot water system which may provide upwards of 40% of the building's domestic hot water needs. Based on the energy efficiency measures and overall design of the School, the new facility is expected to have the same utility costs as the 85-year-old junior high school it is replacing, even though the new Middle School is twice the square footage.