Hallie Wells Middle School
Montgomery County Public Schools: Germantown, MD
Opened in 2016, Hallie Wells Middle School serves the rapidly expanding City of Clarksburg, Maryland and is one of Montgomery County Public School System’s newest schools. The 151,000-SF building’s floor plan arrangement was based on the Lakelands Middle School prototype, accommodating a future enrollment of up to 1,200 students. This $35.3 million project is currently pursuing LEED Silver certification.
A ground-source geothermal heating and cooling system comprised of one-hundred eighty 400-foot deep vertical borings serves the school. Variable speed pumps circulate water between the geothermal wellfield and the extended range heat pump units that serve academic areas. A water-cooled variable refrigerant flow system conditions office and administration areas. Ventilation air throughout the building is provided via a series of dedicated outdoor air systems with water-cooled compressors and energy recovery devices for pre-conditioning and dehumidifying outdoor air.
The school uses LED lighting fixtures in the gymnasium, auxiliary gyms, student dining, media center, and building exterior. Daylight sensors (for daylight harvesting) are used in the gymnasium, auxiliary gyms, student dining, and media center to automatically dim the lighting according to the amount of daylight entering the space through the windows and clerestories. Occupancy sensors are used throughout the school to automatically turn off lighting when a space is unoccupied. Direct-indirect lighting fixtures are used in the majority of the instructional spaces to reduce glare and to provide uniform lighting creating a quality learning environment. Lighting in the instructional spaces can also be manually dimmed via local lighting control stations (switches), resulting in additional energy savings.
Photos © Ken Wyner Photography
Architect: Grimm + Parker