The modular classroom is a near-ubiquitous feature on school campuses where there is a need for increased classroom capacity. But are these structures the best possible learning environments? Most of them are not, according to Portland State University architecture professors Margarette Leite and Sergio Palleroni.
Leite and Palleroni are the architects behind the SAGE (Smart, Academic, Green Environment) classroom. The award-winning SAGE classrooms are in a class of their own: sustainable, healthy, and cost-effective--a genuine alternative to traditional modular units. Their passive design deploys advanced HVAC systems that improve air quality, more and bigger windows to increase airflow and natural daylight. They are built using environmentally safe materials that do not off-gas harmful toxins into the learning environment.
Palleroni and Leite began working on the SAGE classroom project when they and other parents learned their children would be attending school in modular classrooms. These classrooms were known to be poor learning environments. Their building materials released CO2 into interior spaces. Ventilation systems provided heating and cooling but did little to cycle fresh air. And the majority of the light in the classrooms was artificial.
“There were a lot of people in the community interested in finding out if there was a way to come up with a better classroom,” Leite said. “So, we decided to bring together as many stakeholders as ew could to address the problem.”
Leite and Palleroni, both Faculty Fellows at Portland State’s Center for Public Interest Design, applied a public interest design framework to developing solutions to the challenges posed by traditional modular classrooms. The pair invited representatives of local school districts, parents, children, PSU students, educators, architects, engineers, and the manufacturers and distributors of modular classrooms to provide feedback on the design of the SAGE classroom.
“We approached the design of the SAGE classroom by looking at the health and learning metrics associated with factors such as natural lighting and indoor air quality,” Palleroni said. “And what we found was that daylight helps make kids happier, healthier, and more productive learners. Similarly, we found that CO2 levels in classrooms can affect students’ ability to concentrate. So, the solution we came up with was to design a building with lots of windows to provide natural light and airflow. We included HVAC systems that bring in 100% ventilated air and building materials that wouldn’t release harmful chemicals into the environment.”
As the project gained speed, it received support from Portland State’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions and former Governor Kitzhaber’s Oregon Solutions directive. Working with Portland State’s Office of Innovation & Intellectual Property, Leite and Palleroni partnered with Blazer Industries and Pacific Mobile, local manufactures and distributors of modular structures.
To date, Pacific Mobile has deployed 141 SAGE classrooms to seven school districts in the Pacific Northwest. Plans are currently underway to partner with the Canadian company ATCO for international distribution. Palleroni, Leite, and PSU School of Architecture professor, Todd Ferry, have expanded upon their original design, creating the SAGE complex, which combines six or more classrooms into a single unity. The three are currently working on plans for a SAGE school that will bring together all of the buildings of a traditional school into a single SAGE design.
“The SAGE classroom exemplifies the value of public interest design,” Leite said. “This project is the result of the community coming together to address a critical issue and turning out solutions that meet the community’s needs.”