Project Category: Education

Bruce Randolph Elementary School Greenhouse

Bruce Randolph Elementary School was granted the unique chance to build a ground-up greenhouse on campus, designed not only as a hands-on learning space for students but also as a direct source of fresh fruits and vegetables cultivated by the children themselves.

The project began in 2021 under Topographic as a straightforward greenhouse concept. 360 Engineering was proud to support the mechanical and plumbing design for the building. With construction materials still impacted by post-pandemic price volatility, our design intent focused on lean, efficient, and sustainable solutions. Initially, gas-fired heating equipment was specified to provide a cost-effective way to condition the space.

However, to align with Denver Public Schools’ sustainability goals and the City and County of Denver’s initiative to phase out fossil fuels, the project team was tasked with eliminating all fossil fuel-burning equipment from the design. 360 Engineering responded by proposing two fully electric HVAC options. The final solution utilized localized electric unit heaters paired with circulation fans to efficiently distribute conditioned air throughout the greenhouse, minimizing the number of heating units needed while keeping costs low.

An evaporative cooler wet wall was also installed to provide conditioned, cooled air to the greenhouse and help maintain ideal humidity levels to support optimal growth.

Construction was completed in March 2025. The result is a cost-effective, sustainable greenhouse that gives Bruce Randolph students a hands-on opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute to their school and community.

Denver Public Schools – Smedley MEP Upgrades & Steam Boilers

Phase 1 – Piping Replacement at Denver Public Schools Smedley Campus

Originally constructed in 1902, the Smedley campus now hosts Denver Montessori. 360 Engineering led the effort to add air conditioning, update controls, and replace aging equipment. Given supply chain challenges, we prioritized early equipment procurement, including the chiller, fan coil units, AHUs, and transformer. The team worked closely with the district, walking the building to plan piping routes and equipment placement. A new chilled water system was installed, along with 4-pipe fan coil units and AHUs, to provide cooling. Chilled water lines were routed underground from the new chiller to the mechanical room, requiring coordination with utilities and the district team.

 

To meet electrical load requirements for the chiller, a new transformer was coordinated with Xcel Energy by our electrical consultant, AE Design, who also designed a security system to protect the chiller. Upgrades to controls tied into the existing steam boiler system, consolidating the mismatched systems for a functional and comfortable facility.

 

Phase 2 – Steam Boiler Replacement

The following summer, Phase 2 focused on replacing the aging steam boilers with efficient forced draft boilers and upgrading to DDC controls. This included new steam piping, a blowdown separator, condensate return modifications, and new heating water pumps.

 

To install the new flue, our structural subconsultant designed a pre-assembled steel “tower” mounted within the existing chimney, which was craned into place. This streamlined installation avoided costly structural modifications. Additional upgrades included a larger mechanical room louver with structural and architectural modifications to accommodate increased combustion airflow.

 

By preordering boilers early (with 20+ week lead times), the project stayed on schedule, ensuring heating was operational before fall. These updates modernized the system, improving efficiency and reliability for the school.

Denver Public Schools – Fallis Elementary

Denver Public Schools Fallis Elementary, known as the Denver Green School, is a 53,000-square-foot single-story school built in 1960 with an addition completed in the early 1990s. This project’s scope was to provide improved ventilation and the addition of air conditioning to the building. The mechanical system consisted of six (6) air handling units located in hard-to-access mezzanines for the gymnasium, kitchen, administration area, and all-purpose room. Floor-mounted unit ventilators with heating water coils were in the original 1960 classrooms, while above-ceiling air terminal boxes were in the 1990s addition.

360 Engineering, along with our design team members, observed the existing conditions and, while working with the DPS team, determined that removing the air handling units and installing new rooftop units was the preferred direction. There were multiple reasons for this change, but the two leading were the ability to utilize energy-efficient packaged heat pump rooftop units and improve maintenance accessibility.

During the Design Development process, DPS worked concurrently with Group 14 to finalize the DPS Electrification Assessment Report. Our team assisted in gathering pricing information for multiple rooftop unit solutions, working with a DPS-preferred vendor, and, ultimately, landing on a packaged heat pump with energy recovery and gas backup. This option provided energy recovery and aligned with the DPS Electrification assessment of gas backup for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This investment in energy recovery would be realized over the life of the equipment with energy cost savings.

The design team also considered the location of the rooftop units to reduce structural impacts and keep structural costs down. In addition, the electrical engineering team worked with DPS, Xcel Energy, and the CMGC to replace the switchgear and find the shortest lead time for available equipment.

Denver Public Schools – Ceylon Campus

Based on population growth and construction of single-family and multi-family homes in the far northeast corner of their District, Denver Public Schools (DPS) saw a need for a new ECE-8th grade school. The community’s immediate needs were for ECE-5th grade classes, so the project was divided into phases to address this first. Funding for this project, among others, was put to the voters through the 2020 General Obligation Bonds.

DLR Group led the architectural design and management of the design team for Ceylon, including the initial programming and facilitation of meetings with stakeholders and community members. On this team, 360 Engineering provided mechanical and plumbing engineering consulting and design services, bringing our knowledge of District needs from past projects while working with DPS and the design team to accomplish new sustainability achievements. One of these accomplishments was 100% electrification, resulting in a highly energy-efficient school with minimal site-produced carbon. These efficiencies were achieved through close coordination with the architect, the DPS Energy Efficiency Specialist, and other stakeholders. 360 provided several mechanical system alternatives, including coordinating soil conductivity testing through a third-party consultant to determine the feasibility of a geothermal heat pump system. By explaining the pros and cons of each system alternative, working with DLR’s energy modeling group to estimate the operating efficiencies of each alternative, and working with the contractor to estimate capital costs for each alternative, 360 and the team facilitated and guided DPS in choosing a Variable Air Volume Air-Source Heat Pump Air Handler system with exhaust energy recovery that best meets the District’s goals for energy efficiency, electrification, maintainability, and construction budget.

Swinerton Builders broke ground on the new school in early 2023, and the first phase was completed in the Summer of 2024 in time for the fall semester. The school opened under its new name, “RASA,” which stands for Responsive Arts and STEAM Academy FNE.

We are excited about our participation in designing a school that will hopefully become a model for future DPS facilities and other districts in the area. Learn more here.

Douglas County High School – System & Equipment Upgrades

Douglas County School District solicited Architectural and Engineering Design Services for 2021-2022 Bond Improvement Projects at several schools, including Douglas County High School (DCHS). The projects addressed various deferred maintenance needs. At DCHS, a large portion of the scope was mechanical and plumbing upgrades. As part of the RATIO Design team, 360 Engineering worked closely with the district to assess existing systems and equipment conditions at DCHS. We provided timely, cost-effective, efficient design solutions based on the district’s needs, site observations, and ventilation and load calculations.

The mechanical design included replacing variable air volume units (VAVs), kitchen make-up air units, hydronic piping, wall-mountain and ceiling-mounted unit heaters, perimeter hydronic heaters, and various exhaust fans. The plumbing design provided new overhead domestic water lines, new ball valves on domestic water lines, thermostatic mixing valves for emergency drench shower, kitchen water heater, water coolers, drinking fountains, and reroute of gas piping.

International School of Denver – New Academic Building

The International School of Denver provides its students with an inclusive and engaging learning environment focused on bilingual education and cultural immersion. Operating for over 40 years, the school saw a need to upgrade infrastructure on campus to accommodate growth and provide the ISD community with a hub, new specialized learning spaces for students, and professional development spaces for faculty.

Designed by Venture Architecture, the team worked closely with teachers and parents, carefully listening to their needs and goals for this new campus facility. The 40,000-square-foot building has a learning center, a Music, Art, Science, Maker’s Lab, and several faculty and parent volunteer spaces.

360 Engineering provided mechanical and plumbing engineering design services for the project and commissioning of the systems once installed. Our engineers designed a system that allowed for a potential additional floor in the future, which required us to meet some tight space conditions. The team also met tight space requirements in the water entry room. Due to the proximity of the building to the lot line, the water meter is inside the building.

Gold Winner | International School of Denver Academic Building | Venture Architecture (architecturepressrelease.com)

Denver Public Schools – Hamilton Middle School

For renovations and upgrades at Denver Public School’s Hamilton Middle School, the base scope of work and alternates were evaluated and laid out by the Design Advisory Group (DAG). 360 Engineering worked closely with Anderson Mason Dale Architects to carry-out these improvements to restrooms, corridors, and the entryway at the school campus.

The plumbing design included the replacement of restroom fixtures, drinking fountains with hi/low and bottle filler stations, and replacing galvanized domestic water piping with copper piping in the mechanical room.

360 Engineering also upgraded the Hydronic Boiler system. This involved size verification and replacement of boilers to Denver Public School’s standards, a domestic water heat exchanger, expansion tanks, air/dirt separator, and piping in the mechanical room as needed for the layout. The design replaced two existing heating water pumps with new pumps and added Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) to the two new heating water pumps that provide circulation to the Air Handling Units.

Denver Public Schools – Merrill Middle School

Denver Public School’s Merrill Middle School received improvements to their campus, including classrooms, restrooms, and common areas following a focused design advisory group (DAG) process to determine specific school needs that fit within the project budget. 360 Engineering worked with Yon Tanner Architecture for upgrades to several school restrooms, the administration area and new entry vestibule, gymnasium, and ADA accessibility.

For the restroom renovations, 360’s scope of work began with detailed site observations of mechanical and plumbing systems, including verifying exhaust airflow. To modify the existing domestic cold water, hot water, hot water circulation, waste, and vent piping for the new fixture layout, our engineers designed the new plumbing system. The hot water system was not operating correctly, so our solution was to develop a Point of Use (POU) water heater design for each restroom. Adding these POU water heaters prevented the need for a full-building piping replacement, which would have been significantly more invasive.

In the administrative area, 360 provided mechanical and plumbing engineering for the addition and modification of office layouts, the addition of two ADA restrooms, and a new entry vestibule. The design included controls for any new or existing mechanical systems in this area to connect to the existing DDC system. Also, modifications to existing steam piping as needed for unit ventilators and convectors within the space.

For the basement ADA ramp access, plumbing engineering was provided for a new sump pump and mechanical engineering to accommodate new walls and entry.

27J Schools – Prairie View High School Commons Area Addition

Prairie View High School in the 27J Schools district looked to improve the appearance, safety, and flow of their schools’ entrance by adding a commons area and renovating the courtyard. The existing exterior and interior walls were demolished to create this new open space connecting to the cafeteria. The commons area addition included restrooms, a new main entrance, and a security desk. 360 Engineering provided mechanical and plumbing engineering services on the RATIO Architect’s design team giving the high school a fresh new look and improved security.

For the commons area’s mechanical scope, 360 Engineering added a new single-zone VAV gas-fired DX cooling air handler and tied it into the existing building control system. The firm designed new ductwork distribution with an aesthetically pleasing layout and painted spiral ductwork for the open ceiling architectural design. High volume, low speed, ceiling fans were also specified to help circulate air and reduce energy costs. For the restrooms, 360 Engineering provided exhaust fans and plumbing engineering design.

In addition to the commons area, the school was interested in adding cooling to the main gymnasium. 360 Engineering designed the replacement of the existing unit to add cooling and make the space usable year-round. Destratification fans were also included in the design to increase occupant comfort and provide energy savings.

Denver Public Schools – Holm Elementary School

Denver Public Schools Holm Elementary, initially constructed in 1973, underwent a 26,000 square foot upgrade of classrooms and common area space.  Part of the 2016 Bond, existing classrooms were reconfigured, and the auditorium was repurposed to accommodate a library and art room. 360 Engineering provided site observations and modifications to the mechanical system and a new DDC control system, as well as plumbing engineering services for new water, waste, and vent lines to new classroom sinks.

The mechanical and plumbing engineering scope included renovating the constant volume units to perform as variable volume units, adding new fan-powered boxes with heating water coils and new heating water baseboards for the updated classroom configurations, and replacing existing pneumatic controls and galvanized piping.