Concept Phase

TOWN MEETING: SATURDAY, MARCH 24th

9:30am, Lincoln School Auditorium

~ and TOWN ELECTIONS: MONDAY, MARCH 26th ~

7:30am – 8:00pm, Smith Gym

Campus Projects @ Town Meeting:  The School Building Committee (SBC) and Community Center committee (PPDC) will jointly update residents about the status of the two projects, and the milestones between now and the June 9th Special Town Meeting. If you’ve been following the process why attend?

• We are at a crossroads of two projects that are being developed by two hard-working committees.  The projects require us all to weigh very complex, and sometimes contradictory, issues. The decisions we make are important to the fabric of our community and will, of course, impact our taxes. What will give us the best value for our investment?
• Both committees need residents to weigh in and to help them see the path forward!
• There will be hundreds of people at Town Meeting – this is a vital opportunity for us to listen to each other and understand the decisions we will be making in June. Both committees will be asking for feedback.

Sustainability Presentation:  On March 12th, architect Bill Maclay, who specializes in sustainable and “net-zero” architecture, presented a sustainability analysis of 5 school concepts. He outlined the likely energy efficiency of each concept, and the viability and cost of making the school a “net-zero” building. To see the slide deck he presented, click this link;  and you can watch his entire presentation here.

Campus Projects FAQ’s: New information has been added to the “Campus Projects Briefing Document.” Please visit the Project FAQ’s page to take a look.

RESCHEDULED for April 10th: Community Workshops! The joint SBC/PPDC Community Workshops that were snowed out on March 13th will be held on April 10th, 8:00am and 7:00pm. This is a crucial milestone, as community feedback will help shape the June Special Town Meeting. Please attend!

~ There will be a second blog post later this week! ~

Before Town Meeting you’ll get links to the current school concepts under consideration, and to other handouts that will be provided at Town Meeting.

Wednesday’s School Building Committee meeting that was cancelled due to weather has been rescheduled for Monday, March 12th, 7:00pm, Hartwell multipurpose room.  The main focus of the meeting is to learn about the sustainability analysis performed by Bill Maclay Architects.  Mr. Maclay will be on hand to talk about how “green” each of the project concepts is, and what it would take to make the Lincoln School a “net zero” building. 

Can’t make Monday night? The meeting is being recorded and will be available on the website.  Also, the same information will be presented at the March 13th Community Workshops:  

• The workshops are jointly sponsored by the School Building Committee and the Community Center Committee.
• Two sessions! 8:00am and 7:00pm, Reed/Brooks Gym

Due to the forecasted conditions for this evening, and the closure of the Lincoln School campus for evening activities, the School Building Committee has postponed tonight’s meeting.

The call had to be made early this morning in order to allow Bill Maclay to plan his travel.  We know many residents are looking forward to his presentation on sustainability, so we are working to reschedule the meeting ASAP.

Details to follow soon.

Thank you!

–The SBC Outreach Team

“Feedback loop” – while it accurately conveys a cycle of information, input, and revision, it also implies stasis – as a community, we want to make the loop move forward!

We – the School Building Committee (SBC), design team, and YOU – are doing just that.  

JOIN US – MARCH 7th:   FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY (see below)

Information:

• January 23rd: The design team presented 5 concepts at workshops. Based on community feedback and questions from the SBC, the design team has continued to develop different versions of each of the concepts.
• February 13th: Gathered more input during both the SBC meeting and an open meeting with Lincoln’s design professionals, a well-attended open meeting. Ideas generated will be incorporated into the process after Town Meeting.
• February 28th:  Feedback resulted in 12 concepts with varying features and price ranges. The SBC has narrowed them down to 6, which will be the basis of the March 13th and Town Meeting presentations.

Input:  

1. Wednesday, March 7th:  Focus on Sustainability: Join the SBC to hear about the “green” potential of the different school concepts. We’ll learn more about the impact of windows, insulation and mechanical systems, construction costs, energy modeling, and operating costs over time. 7:00pm, Hartwell Multipurpose room. Read more about our energy consultants here.
2. Tuesday, March 13th: Campus Projects Joint Community Workshops   The SBC and the Community Center committees are teaming up to update the community and gather more feedback! We need you! 8:00am and 7:00pm, Reed Gym
3. Saturday, March 24th: Town Meeting, 9:30am, Auditorium: Hundreds of people in one place? Of course we’ll be gathering more input!

Revision:

After Town Meeting the SBC and design team will start on the next forward-moving loop of the spiral.  More refining of the concepts based on what we learned in March, more information sessions, more input from the community. We know we are asking for a lot of your time and your patience, but continued engagement is crucial for forward momentum. Thank you!

Just for Fun:  What is “Budget Falls”?

• A.  The latest Wall Street exposé by Michael Lewis.
• B.  A thriller set in an abandoned mill town.
• C.  What the students named the plastic tarp catching the leaks in the Brooks Hallway.

Click here for the answer!

…And how “green” are the proposed Lincoln School project concepts?

Find out at the School Building Committee (SBC) Meeting on Wednesday, March 7th @ 7:00pm in the Hartwell Multipurpose Room

Bill Maclay, Founder of Maclay Architects, and Martine Dion, Prinicipal Architect and Director of Sustainable Design, SMMA, will be on hand to present the results of Maclay Architects’ energy performance analysis of each of the 5 project concepts presented at the January 23rd Community Workshops:

1. Repair-Only
2. Renovation of Current Building
3. Renovation + Some Additions (concept A1.1)
4. Comprehensive Renovation, Current Footprint (concept A3.4)
5. Mostly New, Compact Footprint (concept B6)

The analysis includes:

• options for differing levels of building envelope energy performance
• mechanical systems optimization
• construction cost estimates
• energy modeling for both annual consumption and building enclosure related energy usage
• 20-year capital and operating costs and cash flow estimates
• definitions of energy conservation levels and associated Energy Use Intensity (a.k.a. Energy Utilization Index)

*Energy Use Intensity = The amount of energy (kBtu) consumed per square foot of a building.  It is calculated by dividing the total amount of energy consumed in 1 year by the number of square feet in the building.

Biographies

Martine Dion, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a Principal and Director of Sustainable Design at SMMA with 25 years of experience. She provides sustainable design and LEED-consulting services to the full spectrum of SMMA’s clients. Martine has been in charge of the implementation and coordination of sustainable design practices for the firm for the past 18 years, and has largely contributed to its consolidation across the firm’s A&E disciplines. Regarded as an expert in her field, she is a founding director of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Massachusetts Chapter, and has contributed to the AIA’s National Committee on the Environment, to Massachusetts’
Roundtable Action Plan for Green Buildings and Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Zero Net Energy Task Force, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Net Energy Task Force. Martine sits on the recent DOER ZNE Advisory Council and is a Board Director of the NESEA Board of Directors.
As Director of Sustainable Design, Mrs. Dion identifies opportunities in each of SMMA’s projects to advance clients’ goals for energy efficiency and conservation of resources. Initiatives to be explored include siting of the building, solar orientation and shading, design of operating systems and enclosure systems, materials selections, and construction methods. She leads the Energy Efficiency Group at the firm, managing consulting contracts with National Grid and Northeast Utilities, as well as Post-Occupancy evaluation initiatives. Mrs. Dion is trained under the Living Building Challenge certifications program.

Bill Maclay

Check it out! We’ve revamped the SBC website — the goal was to create useful categories, and to make information easier to find. Please let us know if it makes sense to you. Click here or use the “contact the SBC” item on the website’s main menu to tell us what you think.

Here’s what’s COMING UP in the next few weeks (public participation always encouraged):

• Tuesday, February 13th:
  • 1:00pm: Project architects and Lincoln architects brainstorm about the project. Hartwell multipurpose room.
  • 7:00pm: SBC Meeting, Hartwell multipurpose room. The SBC will see additional renovation+ ideas plus a concept that meets the optimal program.
• Wednesday, February 28th, 7:00pm: SBC Meeting, Hartwell multipurpose room.
• Wednesday, March 7th, 7:00pm: Focus on Sustainability — the team from SMMA and sustainability expert, Bill Maclay, will talk about the sustainability features/potential of different project concepts.
• Tuesday, MARCH 13th: Community Workshops (2 sessions:  8:00am & 7:00pm, Reed Gym)
• ANNUAL TOWN MEETING, Saturday, March 24th: Starts at 9:30am, Auditorium.

The meeting will be re-scheduled, date TBA.

Also, the Outreach Subcommittee meeting will be held on Friday, February 9th at 4:00pm instead of 2:00pm.  The meeting will take place in the Hartwell multipurpose room.

Stay safe!