Committee members present:

Reed Lieberman, Chair Jo Anne Carpenter

Roger Demers Jeff Hill

Kathleen Kelley Dennis Pednault

Jeff Stewart Jean Tremblay

Central Office Staff present:

Patrick Low, Superintendent

Pauline Plourde, Business Administrator

Public in attendance:

Paul Bousquet, Principal

Keith Parent, Principal

David Goyette, Head Maintenance

6:10 Meeting called to order

6:15 Patrick Miller from Jordan Institute began a presentation on High Performance Buildings. The Jordan Institute is a non-profit organization providing technical assistance for these high performance building options and can act as a third party advisor to school projects such as ours or as a conduit to other high performance building construction managers. By definition, High Performance Buildings are schools in which the buildings and grounds are:

Healthy

Productive

Efficient

Cost Effective both to build and operate.

This achieved through energy efficient envelopes, day lighting, fresh air exchange, proper building siting, water use reduction, integrated pest management, recyclable material usage, commissioning during the project planning and construction phases stages, and choosing materials that reduce the cost of maintenance.

The costs associated with High Performance Buildings are more than offset by the savings in:

Predictable and lower lifecycle costs,

Lower number of change orders during construction

Lower maintenance costs

Reduced energy consumption

Better health of the occupants through ventilation

Better ecological footprint within the community

More staff productivity

Better, risk management (exposure to mold, pesticides, VOC’s and inadequate air exchange are real and documental problems)

Children are more vulnerable to toxic materials than adults are. So Diesel Particulates, mold, Pesticides, PBDE’s, VOC’s and IAQ’s affect a student’s performance in school and their long-term health including eventual height! By acting locally and building a high performance building, we could provide a better adult outlook for these children. We need to consider the building size, location, site, and solar orientation and lifecycle construction as we specify modification for the elementary school or specifications for a new high school.

We could take different approaches such as an integrated design focus such as the LEED or CHPS programs offered in New England. We could pursue an Energy Focus such as the US EPA Energy Star program or the PSNH NHSaves program. Either offers building certification programs and some small grants toward building high performance buildings.

Examples of high performance building materials including a “green roof, energy selves, bamboo flooring, insulation made from jean fabric, marmoleum, light shelves, porous pavers, recycled plastics were reviewed.

The committee discussed the desire to look at student absenteeism, energy and water consumption, rate of asthma and possibly the visits to the nurse over the past six years. We discussed whether small changes could be made over time to retrofit some of the energy efficiency into our existing buildings. We discussed that some small changes reaped big returns.

7:30 Joanne Carpenter moved to accept minutes of August 5, 2004 as presented, seconded by Dennis Pednault. Unanimously accepted

Jean Tremblay moved to accept minutes of August 19, 2004 as presented with the change of the date at the top to August 19, 2004, seconded by Roger Demers. Unanimously accepted.

7:40 Patrick Low discussed the wish of the GSB that John Losier remain on the committee. Patrick explained that he had met with Mr. Losier and invited him to attend the committee, but Mr. Losier mentioned that he had a medical condition that prevented him from attending the meetings this summer. He is considering whether he would like to attend the meetings when his condition is improved.

8:00 Paul Bousquet reviewed the priority list from the “walk through” of the Ed Fenn. We discussed the acceptability of the classroom doors. We also discussed whether the estimate for the roof replacement was firm or a bit low. We discussed the need for a subcommittee to continue to develop the Ed Fenn Renovation proposal. There was some conflict within the committee about this issue.

We discussed the need to be realistic about the student population growth or decline. Some on the committee wondered if we should not concentrate on offering a K-8 program at the Ed Fenn and look more closely at sending our high school students to Berlin for High School. Some on the committee noted the associated economic impact that such a move would have on the downtown area and social services. Still others wanted to focus on the implied mission to renovate the Ed Fenn and rebuild on site the Middle High School. We discussed the idea of having a K-12 in one building. Since in just five more years we will be graduating classes of 30 students! We also discussed whether other events would have an impact on the number of students in the GMHS, such as attracting Milan students to our school.

The group was reminded to think of renovations from the outside to the inside as they set priorities. The Gorham master Plan was discussed in which residents noted that 2 to 1 they would like to see a renovation of the GMHS. We also looked at the response with regard to sending high school students to Berlin which was 2 to 1 opposed to such action.

Coordinated programming between Berlin and Gorham High Schools has expanded and we are both able to increase programming to meet the needs of our population.

8:40 p.m. Next Meeting on “Building Better Buildings” will be in Littleton on Tuesday, September 28^th. We are taking a bus to the presentation; the bus leaves the Ed Fenn at 5:15 p.m.

We will have a walk through of the Middle High School at 6:30 p.m. on September 23^rd.

The October 12^th meeting at 6:30 will be in the Edward Fenn Library.

Dennis Pednault moved to adjourn, Bob Demers seconded the motion. Unanimously approved.