Colgate Elementary School Replacement

BKM provided MEP design services for the new Colgate Elementary School. This three-story, 88,100 sf, elementary school is located in the southeast portion of Baltimore county and is part of the Baltimore County Public School system. The school is a replacement of the existing elementary school and is located on the same site. The new school houses approximately 530 students and will include the following spaces: general classrooms, art and music classrooms, media center, cafeteria, gymnasium and administrative areas. This building also contains space dedicated to the Parks and Recreation program, including an activity room, office space and storage areas.

The HVAC system for this building includes a four-pipe chilled / heating water system served by an air-cooled chiller and condensing hot water boilers. The 200 ton chiller is located on the roof of the school and is equipped with VFDs to maximize energy efficiency.  The boilers and both sets of pumps are located in the lower level mechanical room. The primary air distribution system serving this building is via rooftop air handling units.  The roof top units serving the classrooms are equipped with energy recovery wheels and distribute air to VAV terminals with hot water heating coils throughout the building.  Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems serve areas requiring summer cooling to allow the chiller to be de-energized. These spaces include the administration area, media center and parks and recreation spaces.  Automatic temperature controls are DDC type with electric actuation and are tied into the county wide energy management system. The lighting for the school consists entirely of high efficiency LED fixtures controlled by a modern relay based lighting control system. A generator was provided to meet the emergency and optional standby needs of the school.