Transcript Slide 1
What is a Green School?
• Green School /grEn skül / n. a school building or facility that creates
a healthy environment that is conducive to learning while saving
energy, resources and money
– Benefits of green schools
• A healthy, productive learning environment
• Improved teacher retention
• Financial savings
• Hands-on learning
• Environmentally Friendly
USGBC, Green Schools Campaign
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A Green School:
– Improves education through hands-on, real-world learning about energy
and energy efficiency
– Strengthens schools by saving money on energy costs
The Alliance for Saving Energy
What else is a Green School?
Many call green schools “high-performance schools”
A high performance school is:
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Healthy
Comfortable
Energy Efficient
Material Efficient
Easy to Maintain and
Operate
– Environmentally
Responsive Site
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A Building that teaches
Safe and Secure
Community Resource
Stimulating Architecture
Adaptable to Changing
Needs
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
LEED Certified Schools in NJ
• Willow School Phase I, Gold, 2004
– Willow School Art Barn, Platinum, 2007
• Carlstadt Public School, Silver, 2007
• Saint Jos. School for the Blind, Certified, 2007
• Philipsburg Early Childhood Center, Silver, 2007
• Summerfield Elementary School, Gold, 2007
How LEED became part of School
Building in New Jersey
• Some school facilities known to have problems
• Some Individual school systems, non-profits and
educators elected to be green on their own.
• Statewide Mandates:
– “…Design of School Facilities should incorporate
maximum operating efficiencies and new
technologies to advance the energy efficiency of
school facilities and the efficiency of other school
building systems…”
Educational Facilities Construction Financing Act (EFCFA), 2000
How LEED became part of New Jersey
School Construction Statewide
• Executive Order 24
– “All new school designs shall incorporate the
guidelines developed by the United States Green
Building Council known as "Leadership in Energy &
Environmental Design ("LEED"), Version 2.0 to
achieve maximum energy efficiency and
environmental sustainability in the design of schools.”
Governor James E. McGreevey, 2002
How LEED became part of New Jersey
School Construction Statewide
The New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation (NJSCC)
– Created by Executive Order 24
– Developed there own policy for E.O. 24 LEED
requirement
• Originally, new school project teams were required to self-certify
that they meet or exceed 26 points on the LEED Rating Scale.
• Current policy prohibits LEED Certification, Adopts LEED for
Schools v.2.0 as benchmark, and requires a minimum of 29
points on the LEED for Schools rating scale.
• Self-certifying did not go well initially, as not enough team
members understood the detail in LEED and the focus was on
speed and volume.
How LEED became part of New Jersey
School Construction Statewide
The New Jersey School Development Authority (NJSDA)
– New and Improved
– Developed revised for E.O. 24
• Originally, new school project teams were required to selfcertify that they meet or exceed 26 points on the LEED
Rating Scale.
• Current policy prohibits LEED Certification, Adopts LEED for
Schools v.2.0 as benchmark, and requires a minimum of all
prerequisites and 29 points on the LEED for Schools rating
scale.
• Serious hurdles remain in the implementation. Green
schools likely to be inconsistent.
NJSDA today
– Mission statement: “The Mission of the New Jersey Schools
Development Authority (NJSDA) is to create a more promising
future for the children of New Jersey by providing safe, healthy
and sustainable schools that create a positive learning
environment and strengthen the community.”
– The SDA’s mission calls for the construction of sustainable,
educationally appropriate schools that cost effective, energy
efficient, durable, safe and secure. Additionally, the must be
community-focused and constructed in an environmentally
sensitive manner…High performance schools emphasize
optimizing natural daylight and providing high-quality indoor air in
an acoustically quiet environment…”
NJSDA Biannual Report, December 2008
Expanding Green
• Going beyond Green, or expanding on
what Green is?
• Once you solve for good light, air, and
acoustics, how do you create a school
facility that improves education?
– Heschong Mahone Group, Daylight studies
– Innovative school architecture issues
– Place based education
Thoughts on Green Schools going
forward
• Green schools require a good team of
educators, designers and engineers working
together
• Green schools do not have to be expensive;
being green is unrelated to cost in many
situations
• Green schools will not necessarily reduce
energy costs in the aggregate for NJ
• Green schools are absolutely wonderful when
they do come together