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More Community Corner Norwood set to benefit from 'model' school design
Norwood is in line to be the first community in the state to realize savings on the construction of a new high school through a pilot program introduced by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
The SBA’s “Model School” program singles out recently constructed high schools that include “green” and cost-saving design features and encourages selected communities to base their own school’s design on an existing model. In addition to saving money on design costs, Norwood will have five points added to the formula that determines how much of its construction costs are covered by the state.
“Overall, it should save us money and the state money,” said Norwood’s general manager, John Carroll.
According to SBA officials, at least one year of design work can be avoided by basing a school’s design on that of an existing school. Avoiding a lengthy design period is also seen as a means of preventing cost overruns resulting from rising prices for building materials.
Norwood will base the design of its new high school on that of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, a 232,000-square-foot building completed in 2005. Ashland High School also has been designated as a model school.
For a community to be eligible to base its design on a model school, the proposed site of the high school must be between 170,000 and 240,000 square feet. The school’s enrollment must be between 900 and 1,350.
Norwood was one of 81 school districts with proposed high school building projects in the SBA’s capital pipeline. According to the SBA, seven other school districts – Dracut, Hampden-Wilbraham, Longmeadow, Natick, Plymouth, Tewksbury and Wayland – also have been invited to take advantage of the Model School program.
More Community Corner Norwood set to benefit from 'model' school design
Norwood set to benefit from 'model' school design
Norwood is in line to be the first community in the state to realize savings on the construction of a new high school through a pilot program introduced by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
The SBA’s “Model School” program singles out recently constructed high schools that include “green” and cost-saving design features and encourages selected communities to base their own school’s design on an existing model. In addition to saving money on design costs, Norwood will have five points added to the formula that determines how much of its construction costs are covered by the state.
“Overall, it should save us money and the state money,” said Norwood’s general manager, John Carroll.
According to SBA officials, at least one year of design work can be avoided by basing a school’s design on that of an existing school. Avoiding a lengthy design period is also seen as a means of preventing cost overruns resulting from rising prices for building materials.
Norwood will base the design of its new high school on that of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, a 232,000-square-foot building completed in 2005. Ashland High School also has been designated as a model school.
For a community to be eligible to base its design on a model school, the proposed site of the high school must be between 170,000 and 240,000 square feet. The school’s enrollment must be between 900 and 1,350.
Norwood was one of 81 school districts with proposed high school building projects in the SBA’s capital pipeline. According to the SBA, seven other school districts – Dracut, Hampden-Wilbraham, Longmeadow, Natick, Plymouth, Tewksbury and Wayland – also have been invited to take advantage of the Model School program.
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
