01 - Copenhagen International School

Piero Marotta
Buildings and Facilities Committee Chair
School Board member
Buildings & Facilities
Committee
The building and facilities for
schools are a vital factor in giving
the students and faculty the best
possible framework for their studies
and teaching. The buildings
that CIS use are a mix of a main
building that is more than 100
years old, a section built during
the Second World War and the
new additions, i.e. the primary
school and the gym added in the
last 12 years.
The Building & Facilities Committee
is comprised of Board members,
field experts and members of
the administration who meet
regularly to plan and follow up on
all the actions necessary to implement
the physical objectives of
the school’s Strategic Plan.
Below are a few highlights of
what has been done during the
last year:
Maintenance Plan
Before summer the Building &
Facilities Committee prepared a
comprehensive Maintenance Plan
for the school, covering a time
span of ten years. It is extremely
important to take care of our most
valuable physical asset and the
ten year Maintenance Plan will
ensure that the facilities we are
using will be healthy and functional,
minimizing the risk of unexpected
failures or costly repairs.
In order to plan effectively the
maintenance activities, CIS has
acquired a software package that
can be used to plan and schedule
regular maintenance as well as
keep track of what is being done
during the year. This will help the
service staff to identify problems
areas in the buildings and conduct
preventative maintenance in an
even more structured way.
Indoor Climate
As part of general maintenance
CIS commissioned a Danish engineering
and consulting company
to review the indoor climate of
our buildings and facilities. The
general conclusion is that the
buildings are fine and improvement
projects have been initiated.
Security Wall
The security wall along Hellerupvej
has been completed thanks
to a generous grant from the US
State Department. The last test of
the automatic gates are taking
place providing higher levels of
security and give parents and
students more flexible access to
the school grounds.
Roof of Main Building
The black tiled roof on the old
Main Building is more than 100
years old and needs renewal work
as soon as practically possible. In
the meantime, a “barrier” has
been put up along the roof by the
gutter to catch any tile that might
come loose while CIS works to
develop the specifications for the
renovation. As the windows and
the façade of the Main Building
are also in a very poor condition
this is also planned to be renewed.
The plan is to install “intelligent
windows” that measure the CO2
and oxygen levels in the rooms
and open and shut the windows
as required. This will address the
issue of ventilation identified in
the indoor climate survey done
earlier in the year without having
to install an energy consuming
mechanical ventilation system.
These renovations will be a very
costly undertaking and the school
will be seeking donations and
gifts-in-kind to help with the project.
Providing more space and facilities
A key concern of the Board and
administration is the lack of space.
The current economic crisis has
caused us to be cautious with our
resources and extremely careful
with planning for expansion. The
Building & Facilities Committee
will continue to support the Board
and the administration in mitigating
the issue of the space and in
looking into all of the opportunities
to accommodate our space
requirements.