The event at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, attended by design professionals and Abbott district leaders from across the state, marked the culmination of 10 months of work to produce a manual that gives clear standards for the design of high-performance school facilities.

"The new manual provides the explicit expectations that design professionals need to build sustainable, cost-effective schools,” said Beth Sztuk, SCC Senior Director for Management and Planning. “It gives what architects, engineers and school districts have asked for – a transparent process with clear standards but room for creativity to achieve the required results. It also puts controls in place to ensure those results are achieved."

The SCC engaged the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to facilitate the development of a manual based on performance standards after members of the design community and district officials said the prior version was too prescriptive and cumbersome. A 19-member task force, including members of the design community, the N.J. Department of Education and the N.J. Department of Community Affairs, collaborated to provide guidance.

The manual represents a holistic approach to school facilities, said Deane Evans, Executive Director of NJIT’s Center for Architecture and Building, with aims ranging from reducing fossil-fuel usage to optimizing use of daylight to enhance students’ learning environment.

"The manual has two key goals,” Evans said. “First, to create healthy, educationally effective learning environments for New Jersey teachers and students; and, second, to optimize the public’s investment in school construction by providing facilities that are durable, energy-efficient and cost-effective to own and operate."

At the event, Sztuk and other SCC officials provided an overview of how the new manual was created and an introduction to the goals of the 306-page document. NJIT’s Evans and Paul Romano, senior research architect, gave a presentation, and brief training tips, on how to use the manual

Follow-up training will be provided in regional sessions. They are scheduled for June 28 at NJIT’s campus in Newark and July 12 at Camden County College’s campus in Camden City. Both will be 9 to noon.

The Design Manual is part of the SCC’s effort to focus on a school project’s life cycle costs, translating into decreased utility bills for school districts as a result of higher standards of design.

"The cost effectiveness of a building and its equipment must be considered not just at the time of construction but during the entire life cycle of the system,” said Scott Weiner, Chief Executive Officer of the SCC. “A wrong choice of inefficient equipment can add unnecessary costs for a school district to own and operate a building during the decades it will be utilized."

The manual pulls together best practices from across the nation and establishes a new norm for pre-K through 12 schools in New Jersey.

The new standards apply to all SCC projects entering design as of today’s release.

The manual is a living document that will be updated as SCC project teams learn more efficient and effective ways to design and build school facilities projects.

The manual is available online at http://www.njscc.com/Business/PDFsForms/DM.pdf