Henderson Engineers Vice President/K-12 Education Practice Director Doug Everhart was featured prominently in a Consulting-Specifying Engineer roundtable article on designing high-tech K-12 schools. Everhart, along with other industry design leaders, discussed using technology as a creative tool within the learning environment.

He also shared his expertise on the future of K-12 and the use of building monitoring systems reacting to the user or user group to increase real-time performance and user experiences by precisely controlling room scheduling, air quality, temperature, setbacks, lighting, and audio-video.

Everhart noted that he envisions a healthy mix of new construction projects as well as renovation or adaptive reuse projects for K-12 facilities. In more urban or historical settings such as North Kansas City (Mo.) High School, he and his team are seeing a lean toward retrofitting existing buildings. The conversion of Northtown High School maintains the existing historical structure with an addition that includes upgraded systems and technology infrastructure for educational purposes, pairing a modern and historical aesthetic with leading functionality and performance.

When it comes to learning, environment is everything. Henderson’s K-12 education engineers design for the end user — students who depend on a well-crafted facility to ensure they develop and learn. From safety solutions to lighting and sound design, our experience includes over 300 projects in 25 K-12 school districts nationwide.