Wiseburn HSD, High School Campus

In early 2013, the Wiseburn School District acquired a property that included a 300,000 SF, four-story office building. With a project budget of approximately $140 million, the District converted the office building and surrounding environs to the District’s first modern high school facility. The new 21st century campus located in El Segundo supports three separate Da Vinci Charter schools – Communications, Design, and Science. The facility is sustainable and is designed as an interactive and innovative project-based learning environment that fosters collaborative, hands-on, interdisciplinary education.

3QC provided Fundamental and Enhanced Commissioning to meet LEED criteria, assist the District in achieving strict energy efficiency goals, and help ensure that the facility’s systems were fully functional prior to occupancy. In addition to the typical systems commissioned (MEP, HVAC, Controls), the building included a 4-story atrium that required inclusion of a smoke control system. 3QC’s in-house commissioning team includes a Fire Protection Engineer who was able to commission the building’s smoke control system (SCS) in two days. 3QC helped save significant schedule impact by developing a detailed test plan early, coordinating functional requirements with the subcontractors, and gaining the confidence of the local AHJ prior to testing. As a result, we helped the contractor meet a difficult schedule requirement.

After completion of the high school, 3QC was retained to commission the next phase of the campus – the addition of a 41,000 SF multi-purpose building and pool complex. During the initial functional performance tests, 3QC identified issues related to the completion of BMS programming and designed sequence of operations. Testing was put on hold and the issue was brought to the contractor’s attention and recorded on a Master Issues Log. Through communication and a collaborative effort, the issues were resolved and the remainder of testing was rescheduled and reverified. 3QC’s proactive approach to commissioning helps eliminate typical problems found during construction to ensure that systems operate as designed — minimizing future issues, improving system control, and increasing operations staff’s knowledge of how their systems should operate.