Designed as a ‘Community School’, Del Sur Elementary School houses all school functions under one roof, exceeding California Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency by 22%. The reduced footprint and compact design reduce the amount of exterior wall and roof areas, requiring less air conditioning and improving the physical environment. The small building footprint has the added benefit of allowing a smaller site acreage than typical for the design of the campus reducing development, landscaping and irrigation costs.
An Energy Management System monitors the use of lighting, equipment, and HVAC systems and the approximately 19% of the school’s energy that comes from photovoltaic roof panels. To reduce runoff related pollution, 42% of the site is permeable to rainfall, and a satellite controlled high efficiency irrigation system uses water only as needed.
As a community-based neighborhood school DSES features a compact 2-story design with joint-use multipurpose, flexible teaching stations and collaborative spaces for exploratory programs.
