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Drawing of proposed School Administration Complex

In 1997, AIM Associates participated in a joint venture proposal with a local developer to design and build a new administration office building for the Petaluma School District. We incorporated state-of-the-art technology for energy efficiency and indoor health enhancing features.

The three story building of 27,000 square feet would have cost $2,835,000 for construction. It was part of a proposed mixed-use development on a vacant brown field on the banks of the Petaluma River. A historic trolley was planned to run on an abandoned rail line through the site and through town connecting to local buses and a light rail commuter train. This project would have been the first major development of a site next to the city's historic downtown under the recent urban growth boundaries.

Our programming phase energy analysis indicated the school district would save over $26,000 per year in energy costs. When the school district's full administrative budget is considered the building's contribution to increased productivity and lower absenteeism is of far greater financial significance. This proposal was unfortunately 10% higher construction cost than the winning proposal. Life cycle costing was not considered in the selection since our project’s simple payback based on energy savings alone was about 10 years.

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