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School Planning and Management, White Paper

One of the best approaches to shrink peak demand is to reduce the heat load on a building, especially the solar load that drives the need for air conditioning. Few heat reduction strategies can match the energy-savings potential of modern cool roofing technology.

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School Planning and Management, 2015

The Hollis Montessori School (Hollis Montessori), Hollis, N.H., is the first independent school in the country to receive Passive House certification. This certification denotes the school’s extreme energy efficiency and means the facility has met rigorous energy-saving standards. Students have been particularly interested in the equipment on the walls that keeps their classrooms comfortable and their school compliant with Passive House standards. That equipment is part of a Hyper-Heating INVERTER™ (H2i®) system from Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. Cooling & Heating Division (Mitsubishi Electric).

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School Planning and Management, 2015

Many standards and point systems exist to help designers facilitate a sustainable school facility or campus. Not all of them, however, define characteristics of lasting value, as viewed through the lens of the student or community member.

There are two sides to this issue: the first cost and the long-term value. First costs can be impacted through the designer’s specifications, but how can we impact the efficiency of the school building and health of its occupants to add long-term value? As sustainability becomes more closely tied with resiliency, we should consider methods to enhance the design process through collaboration and planning. Resiliency is the relative capacity of any facility to adapt to changing environmental conditions while maintaining functionality and vibrancy. In other words, can it adapt?

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School Planning and Management, 2015

In 2015, Fanning Howey clients reached an amazing milestone: 50 LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified K-12 schools. Each school district had a different reason for participating in the green building certification program. For some, participation was required by state funding sources or state law. For others, the choice of LEED certification was driven by environmental stewardship and a wish for lower operating costs. But the lessons learned from these projects have applications for all school districts pursuing LEED certification, whatever the reason.

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School Planning and Management, 2015

In recent years, schools around the country have taken a beating from escalating energy bills. But, that doesn’t have to be your reality. Educational leaders can make a difference in their facilities’ performance by using some of the same approaches they utilize to enhance students’ performance.

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School Planning and Management Whitepaper

One of the best approaches to shrink peak demand is to reduce the heat load on a building, especially the solar load that drives the need for air conditioning. Few heat reduction strategies can match the energy-savings potential of modern cool roofing technology.

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This Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Best Practices Guide was developed under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). The mission of FEMP is to facilitate the Federal Government’s implementation of sound, cost-effective energy management and investment practices to enhance the nation’s energy security and environmental stewardship. Each of these activities is directly related to achieving requirements set forth in:

  • The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which established a number of energy and water management goals for Federal facilities and fleets and also amended portions of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA).
  • Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management (signed in January 2007). This set more challenging goals than EPAct 2005 and superseded existing executive orders 13123 and 13149.
  • The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which further established energy, water, and building commissioning management goals and requirements and also amended portions of EPAct 2005 and NECPA. EISA was signed into law in December 2007.
  • Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance (signed in October of 2009) directs Federal agencies to further address energy, water, and operational efficiency beyond E.O. 13423 with targeted goals and actions.

Release 3.0 of this guide provides updates to Release 2.0 in the areas of O&M technologies, equipment performance, and costs. This new release also addresses water use and the impacts that recommended O&M practices can have on water efficiency.

Ops and Maint Best Practices Guide 3.0_US Dept of Energy 2010

Marable, 2015

There are times when local education agencies (LEAs) go to their governing bodies for funding for school designs that include construction of a green school—a school that supports sustainable practices or has environmentally friendly facilities.  While this type of construction can be supported in the research for reasons that include health, safety, and planet friendly practice, there often is little said about the instructional components of such facilities.  This paper will explain how the components of green schools can enhance the implementation of environmental education curricula that help support 21st century skills.  Currently, there is no set standard for the implementation of environmental education in green schools or for schools that utilize the building as a teaching tool for students. A recent study (Marable, 2015) was conducted in Virginia to help establish pedagogical best practices for environmental education, while describing how educators currently use LEED buildings as a teaching tool to support sustainable practices. The findings from the study indicated teachers employ practices that are consistent with current emphases on environmental education.  Data also supported that educators take pride in their buildings and incorporate the facility as a teaching tool in a variety of instructional practices throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The findings of this recent study and other relevant research explain and provide real examples of current environmental education practices being utilized to support 21st century skills within LEED certified schools.  Examples of how the facility may be used as a teaching tool in environmental education are provided by school grade levels (elementary and secondary) and by building features in LEED construction.

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Koo, Hong, Park, and Yun, 2013

New renewable energy is attracting considerable attention as a future energy source. The photovoltaic (PV) market, in particular, has grown signicantly during the past decade. The use of the rooftop PV system in buildings in urban environments is being actively promoted. This research was conducted to develop a framework for the analysis of the potential of the rooftop PV system to achieve the net-zero energy solar buildings in terms of energy supply. To verify the feasibility
of the proposed framework, a total of 5418 elementary school facilities located in 16 administrative divisions in South Korea were selected as case studies. This research (i) collected information on the elementary school facilities, the rooftop PV system, and the meteorological and geographical characteristics by region; (ii) conducted an energy supply analysis by applying the rooftop PV system; (iii) conducted an energy demand analysis; (iv) analyzed the energy substitution effect; (v)
presented the current status of the energy supply and demand in each region using the geographical information system; (vi) analyzed the causal relationship between the energy supply and demand by region; and (vii) proposed an energy supply and demand strategy by region. This research can help elementary school facility managers or policymakers conduct an energy supply and demand analysis as well as propose an energy supply and demand strategy. It can be used as part of an educa-
tional facility improvement program. The framework proposed in this research can also be applied to any other country or sector in the global environment.