Responsible for the largest district in the country with over 1400 K-12 schools, the NYC School Construction Authority (SCA) mobilized a campaign to survey the condition of the ventilation systems in all of its facilities throughout the five boroughs and develop the most economic, efficient and sustainable action plan for each. With funds from the Federal COVID stimulus emergency package and state and city support, all occupied spaces in every school, as well as Department of Education (DOE) -owned offices, were inspected and reported on from July 2020 through March 2021.
Lilker engineers were among those called to action by the SCA in a time of crisis. A team of 26 dedicated MEP engineers inspected and delivered reports on 120 schools and 20 DOE owned office buildings throughout Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Under an extraordinarily tight timeframe, Lilker participated in providing Ventilation Checklist Spread sheet for each building surveyed—on time and to an exacting set of reporting requirements—to repair, replace or redesign existing ventilation systems where needed. Temporary measures, such as increasing outside air exchange via open windows and temporary fans, were put into place while longer term solutions are in progress.
Currently, Lilker is working on new HVAC system design associated with COVID Ventilation for 14 New York City schools, including approximately 50,000 sq. ft. each of building additions at PS 105X, PS 2Q, PS 206Q and PS 26Q, as well as a 65,000 sq. ft. ground up building for PS 320X. New Building PS 320X and building additions at PS 2Q and PS 206Q are currently under construction phase.