Council of Educational Facilities Planners International, 2011
One of the fastest growing trends in school design is Net Zero Energy Schools. There are now at least a dozen or more schools completed or in construction that have achieved, or have committed to, this incredible level of energy efficiency.
Schimmel, 2011
Green energy represents a way to empower students by demonstrating creative problem-solving with an eye on protecting precious resources, both capital and natural. Many school districts have already taken the initiative during the past five years to implement energy projects, whether for the educational or economic opportunities, or both. Districts throughout California are coming into contact with various vendors sharing information and proposals to develop energy initiatives, including solar photovoltaics (PV). Schools have the opportunity to be leaders in modeling energy use. Begin the process by following the tips presented in this article and taking advantage of The Energy Initiative, co-sponsored by ACSA.
Kim, Hong, & Koo, 2012
Green-roof systems offer various benefits to man and nature, such as establishing ecological environments, improving landscape and air quality, and offering pleasant living environments. This study aimed to develop an optimal-scenario selection model that considers both the economic and the environmental effect in applying GRSs to educational facilities. The following process was carried out: (i) 15 GRSs scenarios were established by combining three soil and five plant types and (ii) the results of the life cycle CO2 analyses with the GRSs scenarios were converted to an economic value using certified emission reductions (CERs) carbon credits. Life cycle cost (LCC) analyses were performed based on these results. The results showed that when considering only the currently realized economic value, the conventional roof system is superior to the GRSs. However, the LCC analysis that included the environmental value, revealed that compared to the conventional roof system, the following six GRSs scenarios are superior (cost reduction; reduction ratio; in descending order): scenarios 13 ($195,229; 11.0%), 3 ($188,178; 10.6%), 8 ($181,558; 10.3%), 12 ($130,464; 7.4%), 2 ($124,566; 7.0%), and 7 ($113,931; 6.4%). Although the effect is relatively small in terms of cost reduction, environmental value attributes cannot be ignored in terms of the reduction ratio.
Hong, Kim, & Koo, 2012
As the area of urban forests rapidly decrease in size, there is growing interest in green roofs as the only alternative to urban forests. This study aimed to evaluate economic and environmental effects of functional improvement in elementary school facilities by applying various improvement scenarios based on green roof systems (GRSs) with the combination of energy-saving measures (ESMs). A total of 16 possible improvement scenarios from the combination of GRSs and ESMs were developed, and energy modeling (Energy Plus ver. 6.0), based on the (i) characteristics of building, (ii) regional climate, and (iii) season, was performed. Using the energy modeling result, the amount of the CO2 emission reduction by energy savings and the CO2 absorption by GRSs’ plants was calculated, and a life cycle cost analysis was conducted with the consideration of the life cycle CO2 (LCCO2). The results of this study can be used (i) to introduce the most appropriate ESMs for the specific facility when applying GRSs, (ii) to decide which location is proper to implement GRSs considering characteristics of regional climate, and (iii) to select energy- and cost-efficient elementary school when applying GRSs.
Lowry, 2013
Good learning environment, LEED certified green buildings + control of common sources of poor IAQ + good maintenance = better attendance + increased student performance + better student health + reduced costs of operation.
Kerlin, Santos, & Bennet, 2015
Many K-12 school districts are embracing energy conservation efforts and constructing environmentally sustainable buildings with the purpose of lowering operating costs of their facilities. Investments in green infrastructure to improve operating efficiencies and occupant health are important but the impact of green buildings on instructional practice should also be considered. This study focused on teachers’ perceptions of the many impacts of a new sustainably designed middle school on students and teachers and explores the use of the school as a learning laboratory. Grades 6-8 teachers participated in open-ended focus group discussions near the end of the first school year in their new green building. An emergent coding framework was created to characterize conversation topics. Analysis of the coding yielded insights into seven major categories of teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the new green school on their work in the building and their students’ attitudes and academic performance. The seven major coding categories of green infrastructure, student behavior, student awareness, teacher awareness, curriculum, health, and professional development were further analyzed to formulate considerations and recommendations for others to capitalize on the instructional potential of sustainably designed school facilities as learning laboratories.
The Center for Green Schools, 2012
The importance of school buildings has been recognized as a fundamental element of society since the beginnings of America and beyond. Today, roughly a quarter of our nation’s population, including our youngest citizens, spends the majority of their days in school buildings. As a result, schools have become a contentious and heavily scrutinized part of civil society.
And yet, many of our nation’s schools are in disrepair, with systems in need of repair or replacement. But with state and local budgets growing increasingly limited, funding allocation for school construction and renovation needs to be carefully weighed. It is important to ensure that investments are going toward efforts that can best foster healthier buildings and environments.
The Education Facilities Clearinghouse recently attended The Green Schools National Conference in Virginia Beach. The Hampton Roads Show highlighted one of the features of this conference, the Trashion show. Students from area schools designed clothes from trash and recycled material. Check out this video!
The Center for Green Schools, 2014.
Several years ago, the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University was involved in the planning of green school projects in and around our community of Fort Collins. We saw the potential for these buildings to be more than healthy, high-performing facilities; we saw that they held the capacity to teach students and community members about sustainability. Through the design, construction, and operations of these schools, we realized that not only is an educational component beneficial, it is imperative to the long-term sustainable operations of green school buildings and grounds. We saw that even the noblest of green building design intentions can be lost if sustainability is not integrated into the facility’s operational practices and educational program.
The Center for Green Schools, 2014.
A partnership between Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)® and the Center for Green Schools (the Center) at the U.S. Green Building Council wasn’t—at first glance—an obvious one. HMH, a global learning company that focuses on delivering best-in-class content to students and teachers, came to the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting to observe and learn from like-minded organizations that were pursuing innovative solutions to global challenges. The Center, a nonprofit with a mission to put every student in a green school within this generation, was at CGI cultivating partners to lead the movement toward healthy, safe, and resource-efficient schools. Our goals proved to be entirely complementary, and after just a year, our unconventional partnership has already been transformative in achieving our shared goal to educate all students so they graduate prepared for a more sustainable future.
