Marie D. Durand Elementary School

Vineland, New Jersey

BCCLT Consulting Engineering was selected by the Vineland Public Schools to design the replacement of mechanical and ventilation systems serving their Marie Durand Elementary School. The project is one of six schools funded by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund) under the American Rescue Plan. ESSER funding is providing public school districts across the nation with $122 billion dollars to upgrade and improve their buildings. All six schools were targeted for HVAC improvement, and BCCLT is the consulting engineer for all six.

The scope of the Marie Durand School project addressed the replacement of aged heating and ventilation systems with a new comprehensive heating, air conditioning, and ventilation system. Project design by BCCLT engineers followed CDC and ASHRAE guidelines focused on improvements in performance and air quality in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Instrumental to our design was the specification of high efficiency filtration to capture fine particle materials, increased outside air delivery, and bi-polar ionization.

BCCLT Consulting Engineers were faced with many project challenges. Project funding limits required a compressed design schedule that would allow the contract to be awarded for a summer 2022 start date. It was imperative that design, bidding, and construction contract award be completed within the school calendar so that construction could be expedited during summer school break. Our design presented a coordinated and phased approach that allows the installation of replacement systems during the 2022 and 2023 summers.

The current construction industry supply chain issues and extended delivery were important factors in the design phase selection of building systems. BCCLT design engineers are keenly aware of the impact these circumstances are having on our clients’ projects. We coordinated our design with manufactures providing real-time input as to availability and lead time. In addition, our design focused on selection of less complex systems involving fewer trades to ensure on-schedule completion.

The experienced BCCLT mechanical design efforts were led by Mr. Dan Simon, P.E., and Mr. Tom Palombo. Both are experienced in the assessment and design of HVAC systems for educational facilities and local preferences. Specifically, Dan’s over 20 years of experience with similar projects and Tom’s familiarity with the Vineland School District from previous projects, including working with project architects, were key for the successful project. The efforts of Dan and Tom resulted in a detailed, complete, coordinated design addressing the project goals and delivered on schedule to bidders. Their development of drawings using three-dimensional representation of the mechanical design provided clarity to bidders of the design intent.

“This project was a transformation from the standard unit ventilators to an overhead VAV system using the latest technology for energy efficiency. Units were designed to provide the cleanest air with UV lights, MERV 13 filtration, and Bi-polar ionization cleaners.”
(Dan Simon, P.E., Mechanical Engineer).

“Collaborating with the client throughout the design process and during the bidding and construction phases has ensured that all parties were satisfied with the upgrades to the HVAC system.”
(Tom Palombo, Project Manager, Mechanical Engineer).

The key to our over 50 years of providing professional engineering services has been our staff. This is again demonstrated by our successful design and delivery of the HVAC Systems Upgrade at Marie Durand Elementary School. Thanks to Dan and Tom for their leadership and efforts on the complex and challenging project.

The BCCLT team is available to assist educational facility clients with systems evaluation, assessments, design, and construction oversite.

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