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School experiencing problems
(by MICHAEL LAMENDOLA - November 06, 2007)
Last week was a momentous one for the new Carlstadt Public School. The building garnered what no other school building in Bergen County has been able to — a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. It was a goal atop the list of priorities when the school construction budget passed a town referendum four years ago, but also was the fact that the school was to be built to the highest standards in terms of constructional integrity. Now in its first full year of full-time operation, it’s apparent that the second goal may have not been fully achieved yet.
“Unfortunately, it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty much [finished],” said Business Administrator Barbara Francisco on the nearly one-year-old school.
Now at completion, Francisco said there are problems within and around the finished Green school. Francisco said since the torrential downpours and regional flooding caused by the nor’easter back in April, the school has begun to experience leaky roofs. First, she said it started in some classrooms scattered on the top floors, but the project’s contractor, VRH Construction Corp. has been responsive and alleviated the problems.
“With the water issues, the contractor has been very responsive to coming out and doing repairs or checking out the problems for us,” said Francisco.
Still, Francisco said leaks have sprouted up in scattered areas throughout the hallways and attributes it to the complexity of the roof and all that lies on top of it. The design of the school has created several layers and joints to the roof and on flat areas, particularly over the gym where heating and air conditioning units were mounted to eliminate taking up space on the ground.
“We have intermittent leaks depending on literally, which way the wind blows. There are so many roofs, I can’t really say it has been more in any place or another,” said Francisco. “We’re coming along though, there were no real problems last Saturday.” Francisco is referring to Oct. 27 when a rain that day and the night before dumped a couple inches on the region.
Another issue according to Francisco is the computer-modulated heating and cooling system that facilitates temperature throughout the school. Opposed to room-by-room thermostat systems, the new school needs to be programmed to adapt to the different room sizes and areas with and without outdoor exposure (some areas in the school have floor to ceiling windows), which can easily heat a room with direct sun.
“We’re still tweaking the mechanical system, the problem is getting everyone’s room comfortable. Every day’s an adventure,” she said. “Personally, I liked the old way a little more.”
Scheduled to open to start the 2006-07 school year, the school encountered its first setback when vendor and construction delays impeded several start dates and it wasn’t until last April that students were able to move into their new home. Change orders to tiles throughout the school and delays in receiving windows from the manu-facturer to unexpected work with the water lines under Washington Avenue all led up to the delayed issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
As construction began to wrap up, the school then found itself with another problem; nearly $100,000 in dam-ages incurred to the surrounding property by way of the construction. Much of the damage was to Lindbergh Field, causing a roadblock to both the borough’s recreational sports and the school’s outdoor physical education classes for the spring season.
Among the damages, ruts in the field from construction equipment were left, backstops were in need of re-placement, access gates had been broken and drainage ditches had been damaged. According to Francisco, con-tractors have addressed those problems, but it will be up to the board to alleviate pooling water on areas of the field due to its low-lying state and they also wish to add more curbing.
Francisco said all the remaining problems with the roof and climate control are vigorously being addressed and hopes for all of them to be cleared soon, but said she’s pleased overall with the $28.6 million school and how teachers and students have adapted to it. As for the entire school project budget, that is yet to be closed out, par-ticularly due to the ongoing repairs, but if there is a balance, Francisco said the funds must go toward school pur-chases. First on that list would be equipment for a new video lab.
Last week’s announcement of the LEED certification came about as a result of the green initiatives that were incorporated into the construction of the school. They included T8 fluorescent light fixtures, aerated faucets, car-pets made from 50 percent recycled material and wood harvested from managed forests within 500 miles of the site among several other environmentally friendly approaches.
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