LOCATION
Winnebago, Nebraska

AREA
30,000 GSF

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Educare is a collaborative effort between the Ounce of Prevention Fund and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. The program offers year-round care and education for economically disadvantaged children from birth to five years of age. Educare also hosts parenting classes, health, community and job fairs, and serves as a meeting space for non-profit organizations. Educare Winnebago is the first school to serve a Native American community and combines their typical best practices with activities that honor local culture and traditions.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

• Complete building energy management.
• Fully-sprinklered wet pipe fire protection.
• Outdoor and exhaust air heat recovery distributed to individual heat pumps.
• Special consideration was given to the temperature and air quality at child level, plus or minus 36 inches above finished floor.
• Mechanical system utilized an energy-efficient ground heat exchanger system for the heat pumps. Multiple vertical pipes were installed in the ground to heat and cool the building.
• Ventilation air was pre-treated with energy recovery ventilators to increase energy efficiency.
• Interior and exterior lighting design, including accent lighting and parking areas. All lamps are required to be “shielded” to protect children from shattering glass.
• Intelligent, addressable multiplex fire detection and alarm system.
• Data and communications structured cabling system. Design of entrance facilities, primary and secondary pathways. Coordination of power, grounding and space requirements for the telephone data equipment. Design of primary pathways between the main distribution frame rooms and building exterior location.
• Intercom, sound system, closed circuit television, and security.

Learn more about projects similar to the Educare of Winnebago by viewing our early childhood portfolio.

Photography credit: Kessler Photography