It is becoming increasingly important for schools to offer spaces for staff and students that can withstand extreme weather events. Bowling Green, Kentucky, the site of Rich Pond Elementary School, has experienced destructive tornadoes in the past, including an EF-1 with 90-mile-per-hour winds that touched down in 2021. Construction on the 91,886-square-foot Rich Pond Elementary was completed in August 2022 after 90 weeks.

The school was built with Fox Blocks by Airlite Plastics Co. ICF installation time for the installer, Carmicle Masonry, was only 210 days, and the team saved 45 days by building with ICFs. Out of the overall budget of almost $21 million, using ICFs added only $40,800 in additional construction costs versus traditional framing, says Mike Kennaw, a representative for Fox Blocks.

Tornado Shelter
The project is a two-story elementary school with concrete planks at the second-floor structure and a full perimeter of ICF walls. A unique feature of the project is that it includes a tornado shelter for the entire capacity of 800 students along with staff. “The perimeter of the tornado shelter consists of 12-inch, heavily reinforced ICF walls that are tied to a 6-inch concrete and metal deck on steel joists,” explains Kennaw. “The parapet walls at these locations are 33-feet in height with ties to the concrete roof system, at 30 feet and 8 inches above the floor. Together, the components are designed to resist a direct tornado strike with 250 mile per hour winds.”

The project was the first school in Kentucky to integrate a storm shelter with zero-energy achievable Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 25 or less. The overall cost of construction ($226 per square foot) was less than the average cost of a school designed to simply meet building code. “This project serves as an example of how an ICF zero-energy, high-performance facility can be achieved without additional funding,” says Kennaw.
Four Warren County Public School District students and several other community members lost their lives as a result of the 2021 tornadoes, and more than 500 families lost their homes. The school’s storm shelter is a vital way to help protect the students, staff, and families in times of any future disaster.

Complications & Issues
The Covid pandemic presented significant challenges for this job, which started in October of 2019, just months before shutdowns. Another challenge was that the switchgears (devices that control power systems) were delayed during manufacturing and held up in Mexico, and then the team had difficulties securing a semi-truck to get the switchgears delivered on-site. “Fortunately, the electrical contractor was able to ‘hot wire’ the system so that work could continue,” says Kennaw.

The general contractor, Alliance Corp., had to work on the new school while classes were still in session at the original Rich Pond Elementary school, on the same property just 50 feet away from the new work site. The flooring needed to be recessed 3 inches to install the gymnasium flooring, and, to make matters more complicated, the installation had to be done in winter with no windows installed yet — windows had been delayed due to Covid supply chain issues. The design included white brick at the bottom perimeter of the facility, which had become stained by the red clay soil. “All of the brick had to be removed and new, black brick was installed in its place,” says Kennaw. “Despite these challenges, the team started this project three months after another school district in Kentucky started a very similar project. Rich Pond Elementary School was completed with time to spare before the school opened for the start of the year. Unfortunately, the other district had to delay the start of the school year. Excellent teamwork across the board, in addition to the ease and efficiency of ICF construction significantly impacted the project’s timeline.”

Design & Sustainability
The overall design concept for the interior of the building was focused around Legos, including a sculpture of the school mascot created out of 104,000 Legos. Outside, bulldog footprints were added to concrete inserts on the facade of the building. Steel “eyebrows” were also added over some windows. The team incorporated the history of the original 1950s school building into the design in part by using maple for the gymnasium’s hardwood floors like the original school had.

A common area in the center of the school serves multiple purposes. The 850-seat gym is connected to this common area while the gym itself serves as a community tornado shelter, engineered to withstand destructive winds up to 250 mph. Ventilation, plumbing, and electricity are self-sustaining systems in the gym, to ensure continued operation during and after severe weather events.
The project had a goal of zero-energy achievable with an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of less than 25. According to Energy Star, the median EUI for K-12 schools is 104.4. Architects used the site to position the school along the North and South axis to maximize daylighting and take advantage of the thermal mass of the ICF wall system.

“Rich Pond Elementary stands as Warren County’s fourth zero-energy achievable, disaster-resilient school, exemplifying the district’s commitment to cutting-edge educational facilities and energy efficiency,” says Kennaw. As a whole, Rich Pond Elementary is not just an educational institution, it is a testament to innovation, resilience, and environmental stewardship while providing a nurturing environment where students can thrive and reach their full potential.”

Warren County Public Schools district leaders use the school as an example for many outreach and community activities including council meetings, the legislative lunch, and board meetings. The school district has collaborated with various community partners and has hosted elected officials from the local, state, and federal governments to showcase the school and share the construction story, promoting the benefits of an ICF zero-energy facility. The story of energy efficiency and safety at the school has been shared with community stakeholders including the Chamber of Commerce. Now, with the addition of Rich Pond, Warren County Public Schools has seven verified zero-energy schools across the district.

“After the Warren County community suffered great loss following tornadoes that hit the area in December of 2021, the combination of net-zero achievable plus disaster resilience including an integrated storm shelter using insulated concrete forms is a critical step in building a safer community,” says Kennaw. “Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects and the school district have 20 years of experience with ICF forms. Because of their extensive knowledge and experience with ICFs, there was no question that they would be used on this project as well.”