St. Joseph's School for the Blind

DMR Architects

Other Elements by this Professional

St. Joseph School for the Blind was designed to provide a very specialized learning facility for blind and partially blind students, many of whom also have other physical disabilities. The design of the facility was very demanding and challenging, and in addition, the client wanted to add the challenge of making the building energy efficient and environmentally responsible. The result was a wonderful combination of special design features, thermal comfort and energy efficiency.


Additional Info:

St. Joseph School for the Blind had two distinctive environmental challenges. The first was thermal comfort for the students. Due to the fact that the students have severe sight disabilities, their other senses are much more sensitive. Temperature and humidity control was a special concern for the facility and needed to be maintained within much stricter tolerances. The second was keeping the building energy efficient while meeting the requirements for specialized thermal, humidity and lighting. Those students that are not completely blind but are severely sight disabled are able to see images only in increased lighting levels. The challenge was to provide those specialized mechanical needs and increased lighting levels and still keep overall energy and wattage levels within the requirements of the energy code and even surpass those efficiencies. St. Joseph´s received 4 LEED energy optimization points, achieving a 30% energy savings over a conventionally designed building.


Materials:
Carlisle Sure-White EPDM roofing Energy Star rated, .84 solar reflectance, .90 thermal emittance Sherwin-Williams Harmony latex interior paint Zero VOC Clayton concrete block - 40% post-consumer recycled content
: St. Joseph´s School for the Blind | Jersey City, NJ
Photos:

Wing Wong, Memories, TTL