Lacey school will have geothermal heating

The new school planned for the Lacey Center site in the Broyhill Crest neighborhood will be the first school in Fairfax County with geothermal heating and cooling, says Dean Tistadt, assistant superintendent for the Fairfax County Public Schools’ Department of Facilities and Transportation.

With this system, water is piped deep underground to maintain a constant temperate of 55 degrees. That reduces the amount of energy needed for heating and air conditioning. Tistadt estimates the system will cut utility costs by about 10 to 20 percent. He says FCPS officials were impressed with York County’s use of geothermal energy in three schools.

The new school will also have other environmentally sustainable features, including energy-efficient roofing, floors made from recycled materials, efficient use of daylight, and valance heating and cooling, which also reduces ambient noise in classrooms.

The new school is scheduled to open in fall 2012, and construction will start in June 2011. Tistadt is eager to find office space that can be leased for the roughly 100 FCPS employees who work at the Lacey Center. “There is a real urgency to get them out” so the construction process can begin, he says.

The new two-story school is expected to serve 800 to 900 students and will have 38 classrooms. It will have the same basic design as other new county elementary schools—Island Creek in Alexandria, Bull Run in Centreville, and Dogwood in Reston—and two under construction—Laurel Hill in Lorton and Coates in Herndon.

The major decisions that have to be made are the grade configuration—K-5 or K-6—and how many special programs the new school will have. “Those decision will drive the attendance area,” Tistadt says.

Determining the Lacey boundary area is likely to affect the attendance areas for Annandale Terrace, Braddock, and possibly Beech Tree elementary schools. As all those attendance areas are adjusted, some students might move into those schools, while others transfer out. It also will determine where the Lacey students will go to middle school and high school.

All of these issues will be part of community discussions during the comprehensive planning process, which Tistadt expects will begin next January or February.