Palmese, 2014
There are approximately 133,000 schools in the U.S., with 10,221 of them, serving more than 6.2 million students, in California. Seventy-one percent of classrooms in the state are more than 25 years old and in need of repair or upgrading. As the economy forces school districts to slow their new building plans, they are focusing, at least for the time being, on their existing facilities, doing what they can to implement energy and water efficiency projects, installing renewable energy sources and greening their everyday operations.
It’s no longer debatable that even modest sustainability upgrades save money, and that savings can go into a district’s general fund. The “Catch 22” at present is that finding the funding to pay for saving money can be difficult. Creative financing options are needed, and Green Technology is working on a special project to document innovative financing options for green building, energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency and the myriad of other sustainable aspects of building and running schools and community colleges.
