Williams Donates Funds To Test Mt. Greylock's VentilationBy Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
10:45AM / Thursday, November 17, 2011 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College will pay for an engineer to inspect the ventilation, plumbing and energy systems at Mount Greylock Regional High School.
The School Committee accepted Tuesday both the donation and a bid offer to complete an inspection of the systems in tandem with the Department of Public Health testing the air quality. School officials are collecting the data as it prepares to make a pitch to the state School Building Authority for a new school.
The DPH will be testing the air on Friday after Superintendent of Schools Rose Ellis asked. Members of the Building Committee found an outdated study that showed some classrooms had as much as triple the maximum level of carbon dioxide. That study did not examine the ventilation system and, at the time, the school completed minor improvements but had not replaced the entire system.
The plumbing system will also be looked at because janitorial staff have noticed locations where the pipes had burst — possibly spilling sewage into the school's walls.
The committee accepted bids from Williamstown-based Integrated Eco Strategy and Pittsfield-based EDM Engineering to perform the studies for a total of $11,420. The testing is expected to be completed in two to three weeks.
Also with the ventilation system, Building Committee member David Backus borrowed equipment from Williams College to test the background noise and peak noise levels in the school. Backus found that all classrooms had noise levels above American National Standards Institute building codes. Classrooms with the original Univent motors had the lowest levels whereas vents that had replacement motors installed were louder.
"More worrying for student and teacher health in the classroom is the fact that many teachers turn off the Univent fresh air systems in their rooms in order to reduce noise when teaching," Backus's report reads. "Thus, the proper input of fresh-air to the classroom is compromised by the noise generated by the classroom ventilation system."
Backus' findings are available below.
Members of the Building Committee also met with state Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, state Rep. Gail Cariddi, D-North Adams, and state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, to have them "keep a look out" for the school's pitch for state funds to build a new school.
Mt. Greylock Noise Test 2011
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